ATLANTA -- Maybe Jurickson Profar’s presence will suddenly help bring the Braves’ offense to life and help the team deal with what has become a very thin rotation.
Profar returned from an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension on Wednesday and immediately showed his potential. He celebrated his first game since March 30 by matching the home runs Matt Olson and Sean Murphy hit in an 8-3 win over the Angels at Truist Park.
“The best thing you can do when you come off a situation like that is perform, and [Profar] did that,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
This had the makings to be a rough day for the Braves. Spencer Schwellenbach was placed on the injured list with a fractured right elbow and the team’s scoreless streak reached 21 innings before Murphy hit a three-run homer and Olson drilled a grand slam in a seven-run sixth.
Murphy has homered in each of his past three games, and Olson’s grand slam might have felt a little sweeter given he hit it with his good friend Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate for the Angels. But the home run that might have the strongest lingering impact was the one Profar drilled into the Chop House’s second level down the right-field line.
What did Profar think of the cheers that followed this homer?
“They [cheered]?” Profar said with a laugh. “I was too locked in. I didn’t notice.”
Profar heard a mix of cheers and boos before his first at-bat on Wednesday, but he heard only boos after he resumed his Braves tenure with a strikeout.
“They have every right to do whatever they want,” Profar said. “I made a mistake and I need to pay for it.”
Profar will need to provide consistent production to silence those who doubt his ability to repeat last year’s success without the assistance of performance-enhancing drugs.
“I didn't take anything on purpose,” Profar said before the game. “Like I said in my statement [issued in March], I'm responsible for what goes in my body. I did the 80 games. It was hard, but I did it. I'm responsible. There's no excuses.”
Profar signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Braves in January. He played just four games before it was announced he had tested positive for chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a performance-enhancing substance that is in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
How did Profar test positive for a drug primarily associated with pregnancy, but also used by men to stimulate testosterone or sperm production?
“I had a problem with my knee last year,” Profar said. “The thing I asked for was normal, something I had [taken] before when I had my shoulder [ailment]. But [the test] came back that it had a banned substance in it.”
Profar spent a portion of Spring Training knowing that he had tested positive. His attempt to appeal delayed the official announcement until March 31, just as the Braves prepared to begin a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.
“It was very, very, very tough,” Profar said. “I went through it, not being able to sleep for weeks, while still practicing and doing what I had to do. And knowing [being suspended] was a real possibility.”
Profar will play left field on an everyday basis and hit somewhere in the middle of the lineup. He has a chance to help the Braves make an improbable run to the playoffs. But along with the suspension, his positive test prohibits him from playing in this year’s postseason.
To make room for Profar, the Braves designated Alex Verdugo for assignment.
When the Braves signed Verdugo to a one-year, $1.5 million contract on March 20, it was unclear why they had added an underperforming outfielder to an already crowded outfield. But the move made more sense a little more than a week later, when it was announced Profar had tested positive.
Profar hit a career-high 24 homers and constructed an .839 OPS for the Padres last year. The former top prospect produced a .702 OPS over 470 games (1,793 plate appearances) from 2020-23. His success in San Diego came as a surprise, given he was released by the Rockies near the end of the 2023 season.
Along with hitting the homer, Profar also contributed a single ahead of Murphy’s three-run shot. His debut creates hope that the Braves will finally get some production from left field. They entered Thursday with a MLB-worst -1.9 fWAR from the left-field position, which had manned by Jarred Kelenic, Eli White and Verdugo in Profar's absence.
But Profar also took his first step toward silencing the critics who will need to see him produce this year before trusting that last year’s success wasn’t aided by performance-enhancing drugs.
“He’s a member of this team and to me, he’s almost like a brother,” Ronald Acuña Jr. said. “We all make mistakes. I think now, it’s just about turning the page and moving on.”