Profar’s latest PED ban is more proof he fooled Braves

It seemed Jurickson Profar swindled the Braves a year ago. Now comes another reason to believe it.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Monday that Profar is facing a 162-game suspension for a second positive test for performance-enhancing drugs. Profar served an 80-game ban starting on April 1 last year.

Profar hasn’t commented on the ESPN report. Does it even matter what he says? Profar is lacking in credibility and availability. His PED record includes two failed tests and two long suspensions.

Profar fooled the Braves with career year in 2024. They signed him for $42 million over three years. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said Profar’s newfound power made him valuable.

Profar apparently believes he needs PEDs to do that. He faces a lifetime ban for another positive PED test. The odds favor it.

Getting a lesser version of Profar for $42 million would be disappointing for the Braves. Getting nothing from him for 242 games is money blown. Profar also is ineligible for the postseason again.

The likely range of outcomes for Profar next season is overpaid DH or back to the suspended list again. The Braves owe Profar $15 million in 2027. That’s a lot of money for a bad corner outfielder with no recent track record of honest power.

When Anthopoulos signed Profar, he said he rated him as the second-best available free agent hitter behind Juan Soto. Now Profar’s contract is the worst blemish on the Braves’ salary sheet.

Anthopoulos said the team did a lot of background work on Profar to ensure he’d fit in with the Braves. Now his teammates can’t count on Profar to help them win.

The AP reported that Profar intends to ask the Players Association to file a grievance to appeal disciplinary matters to an independent arbitrator. Players accused of PED violations rarely win on appeal.

Don’t count on seeing Profar in MLB this season. At least the Braves have better options to cover for him this time.

Last year, they did it with Bryan De La Cruz and Alex Verdugo. Those two didn’t hit much. The Braves now have veteran utility players with more pop.

The duo of Mike Yastrzemski and Mauricio Dubón can take turns at designated hitter and fill in for others when they do it. Dominic Smith could end up doing it sometimes. That group might collectively produce more power than Profar did before he suddenly became a slugger.

Shoulder injuries derailed Profar’s rise as MLB’s top-rated prospect. He hit 20 homers in back-to-back years, then hit 35 total from 2020-2023. With the Padres, Profar hit 24 home runs with a .380 on-base percentage.

The Braves expected that kind of production from Profar. His first PED suspension created doubt about those numbers. Profar rekindled hope when he returned last July and hit 14 homers in 80 games.

The second suspension cost Profar the benefit of any doubts about how he did it.

After MLB announced his 2025 suspension, Profar said he didn’t knowingly take a banned substance. The Braves said they were “surprised and extremely disappointed” by the failed test. The team said they hoped Profar would learn from the experience.

The Braves can’t be surprised this time. Profar apparently didn’t learn. He’s been nothing but a disappointment for the Braves.

Profar recently told reporters that he played hurt in 2025. He said he had surgery in November to repair a sports hernia and needed six weeks to recover. Profar said he delayed surgery because he didn’t want to let down his teammates.

He ended up doing that, again. Given the chance to make amends, Profar made things worse. That’s true even if you buy his story that he didn’t know he was taking a banned substance.

After the latest suspension, Profar will have played 82 games in two seasons with the Braves. He’ll try for his first year with no PED suspension in 2027. Maybe Profar stays clean and hits a lot of homers. He’d still be a DH on the free agent market with two strikes for PEDs.

The Padres signed Profar for one year and $1 million. A career year earned him a big deal from the Braves. The first PED suspension cast suspicion on that production.