Jurickson Profar apologizes to teammates for PED suspension, then homers in Braves win

New York Times

10 hours ago

ATLANTA — Jurickson Profar returned from an 80-day PED suspension Wednesday, did his first interview since the penalty was handed down four games into his first season with the Braves, and played his first game since that ignominious day.
The interview didn't go particularly well regarding his explanation for the positive test, but then Profar did the only thing he likely could do to win back fans: He contributed to a win.
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He was 2-for-4 with a single and his first home run as a Brave in an 8-3 win against the Los Angeles Angels in his first home game at Truist Park. Profar turned the boos that he got after a first-inning bases-loaded strikeout to cheers when his towering leadoff homer in the seventh sailed inside the right-field foul pole. Fans gave him a loud ovation.
'They did?' he said, smiling. 'I was too locked in; I didn't notice. I appreciate it, though.'
It was also Profar's two-out single in the sixth that began a seven-run outburst in an inning fueled by a three-run homer from Sean Murphy and a grand slam from Matt Olson. Murphy has three homers and eight RBIs in his past four games, including the Braves' first grand slam of the season in Saturday's win against Philadelphia.
Saturday and Wednesday were the Braves' only two wins in the past seven games, and Murphy will catch again in Thursday's series finale, Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Before the game, Snitker said of Profar's difficult situation, 'The best thing he can do is go out and play well.'
.@JURICKSONPROFAR sends a souvenir to the Chop House!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/0LQd3TI1xp
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 3, 2025
Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. said of Profar's apology to the team Wednesday: 'He's one of us. He's a member of this team. To me, he is like a brother. We all make mistakes. I think now it's just about turning the page and moving on.'
Other teammates who hadn't spoken or even seen Profar since the suspension said his apology seemed sincere.
'I know I put them in a very tough position already, and maybe more when we play on the road or something,' Profar said of the Braves, whom he knows will probably hear him booed plenty on the road. 'But, again, I'm here and ready to go to the battle with them and give my everything that I've got to help us get to the playoffs.'
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Afterward, Snitker didn't seem ready to throw roses at his feet, but said of Profar: 'Teed it up for him that first at-bat with the bases loaded. But yeah, that was good. He started a big inning and finished off (with a homer). I thought his at-bats were pretty good, just missed the one (his) second time up (a fly to the warning track with two on in the third).
'It's kinda nice to have that other switch hitter in the middle of the lineup. You feel good when he's up there. Makes the lineup a little longer.'
It was understandable why Profar avoided taking questions from reporters until he had to, right after he apologized to coaches and teammates, most of whom he hadn't spoken to since his March 31 suspension was announced by the commissioner's office.
His explanation for testing positive for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) — a fertility drug that's also popular among athletes as a masking agent for PED usage — raised eyebrows, as did his career-best stats in 2024 with the San Diego Padres.
Those came in his age-31 season, when sudden spikes in power and production aren't common. What would Profar say to those who think his 24-homer, 134 OPS+ season in 2024 was PED-related? (Previous highs: 20 homers in 2019 and 115 OPS+ in 2023.)
'I think if it was PED-related, I would have been suspended last year,' Profar replied tersely to that question.
He batted fifth and played left field Wednesday, the position he was penciled in to play before his suspension. The Braves designated for assignment outfielder Alex Verdugo to open a roster spot Wednesday, after Verdugo struggled mightily for most of the past two months, first as the regular left fielder and then in a platoon.
The Braves only signed Verdugo in the last week of spring training, giving him a one-year, $1.5 million contract at a time when there was no obvious need for his services. But when Profar was suspended less than two weeks later, it looked either prescient or like the Braves knew there might be a need.
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Profar was informed privately early in the spring that he tested positive for hCG, and per the MLB policy had a chance to appeal, which he did. That appeal took all spring, and teammates and others in the Braves organization didn't know about it.
'Very, very, very tough,' Profar said of his spring training. 'Not being able to sleep for weeks, and still practice and do everything that I had to do. Knowing that (suspension) was a high possibility.'
He lost that appeal and was suspended, the news breaking just hours before the Braves' series opener at Dodger Stadium, after they were swept at San Diego.
Profar said he unknowingly took the banned substance while trying to treat a sore knee, implying it was in something else he took for that injury. He claimed that he had taken the same thing when treating a sore shoulder the previous year.
He did not offer any explanation about where he got the medication or why it would contain hCG, which, according to the Cleveland Clinic, 'is a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy. It helps thicken your uterine lining to support a fetus and tells your body to stop menstruating.'
The use of hCG in baseball goes back at least to 2009, when Manny Ramirez received a 50-game suspension for testing positive for the substance. Some athletes have used it to start natural testosterone production after PED use.
Profar wants to move past this whole matter, but he knows it won't be that easy. Wednesday was the first step.
'Very cool,' he said. 'I got to talk to my teammates and to the fans and to everyone, and to put it behind me.'
The seven-run inning also got pitching prospect Didier Fuentes off the hook after giving up two runs in the first inning. It was the third start for MLB's youngest player, and Fuentes — 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA in the first two — pitched better, allowing four hits, two runs and three walks in 3 2/3 innings with six strikeouts (Mike Trout twice).
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The Braves began the day fourth in the NL East standings and ninth in the wild-card standings, and they put co-ace Spencer Schwellenbach on the injured list with a fractured elbow Wednesday afternoon. They needed something positive from Profar, or anyone, for that matter.
'Just do the things that I normally do,' Profar said of how he could help the Braves. 'Just get on base and try to drive in runs and play good defense, normal stuff like that. I think it's going to help the team a lot.'
If he's booed along the way, at home or on the road, he'll understand.
'They have every right to do whatever they want,' he said. 'Boo, that's their right. I made a mistake, and I need to pay for it.'
He forfeited about $5.8 million of his $12 million salary during the unpaid suspension, but his three-year, $42 million deal is backloaded, and he'll be paid $15 million each of the next two seasons.
If he's able to help the Braves turn things around and earn an eighth consecutive postseason berth, Profar wouldn't be eligible to play in the playoffs. That's one of the rules for violating MLB's joint drug prevention and treatment program.
'First of all, I want to formally apologize to my teammates, coaches, staff and the entire Braves organization, and the fans,' Profar said in the interview room before taking questions Wednesday, even though he had apologized to the team earlier. 'I didn't take anything on purpose. But … I'm responsible for what goes in my body.
'I did the 80 games, and it was hard. It was hard, but I did it. And like I said, I'm responsible. There's no excuses.'