Braves have businesslike reaction to Jurickson Profar suspension

NORTH PORT, Fla. — The locker in the Braves clubhouse between Ronald Acuña Jr.’s and Ha-Seong Kim’s was empty Wednesday morning, not a jersey or glove to be found.

The nameplate above it also had been removed.

And that’s about how the Braves are trying to handle the loss of designated hitter Jurickson Profar to a 162-game suspension for failing a PED test for a second time.

Out of sight, out of mind.

“I use the analogy a lot, but it’s like blinders on a horse during a horse race,” ace Chris Sale said. “Nothing else matters other than running as fast as you can to win that race.”

Braves players queried about the suspension largely kept their feelings about it and Profar to themselves. Most went only so far as to express their disappointment and shock.

“I wouldn’t put any word to it,” first baseman Matt Olson said. “It’s obviously not a scenario that we wanted to see ourselves in.”

Would pitcher Spencer Strider want Profar back on the team?

“That’s a very loaded question,” he said. “It’s out of my control, so it’s no point in even speculating on it.”

As they saw it, there was no value in dwelling on it. While Profar’s decision to violate the MLB’s PED policy a second time has materially damaged the team’s chances of reaching the postseason, players spoke of staying focused on the season.

“It’s unfortunate,” third baseman Austin Riley said. “But I think where my mind went, hopefully (where) the clubhouse went, is we’ve got an ultimate goal and job to do, and we’ve got to come in here and push forward.”

The fact that Profar reportedly will appeal the suspension also likely served to keep stronger opinions from being shared.

Said utility player Mauricio Dubón, “It’s better for everything to come out than for me to say anything.”

Sale, though, said that “it means everything” to play clean, mentioning his baseball-playing sons.

“I think we have an example to set for not only our children but the next group of big leaguers that are coming up, the next generation of kids that want to play higher levels of baseball,” Sale said. “And that’s our responsibility, to do this the right way and show them what the right way is.”

Manager Walt Weiss was asked about describing Profar at the start of spring training as a leader and great teammate for the way he played through a sports hernia last season after he returned from his 80-game suspension.

“And that’s what I said,” Weiss said. “None of us saw this coming. So, yeah, I stand by what I said at that point in time. Again, we’ll let this process play out, but I said that stuff at the beginning of this camp about Jurickson, and that’s exactly how I felt at the time.”

Weiss said that he found out about the suspension Tuesday five or 10 minutes before news broke. He said he was “obviously disappointed,” repeating the adjective the team used in a statement on the suspension released Tuesday night.

What was most disappointing?

“Just the facts of the matter,” he said. “Like I said, there’s a lot of unknowns right now. We know there’s a suspension, but we also know there’s an appeals process.”

Weiss said that he had not heard from Profar. He likely won’t be checking his phone waiting to hear from him. Weiss saw his role as keeping the team focused and not allowing the suspension to serve as a distraction or excuse.

He acknowledged that it could mean a larger role for catcher Drake Baldwin as a DH on days he doesn’t catch. Weiss said that he even considered it when he interviewed for the manager job last fall and looked into how the Seattle Mariners handled the load for catcher Cal Raleigh, the 2025 home-run king.