Atlanta’s designated hitter Jurickson Profar is slated for a 162‑game ban after a second positive test for performance‑enhancing substances, reports said Tuesday.
Should the sanction stand, the 33‑year‑old will lose his full $15 million salary for the 2026 season and will be barred from postseason play and this month’s World Baseball Classic, where he had been slated to represent the Netherlands.
The ruling would make Profar the sixth player to receive a season‑long PED suspension since Major League Baseball heightened penalties for repeat offenders in 2014.
After earning his first All‑Star nod with the San Diego Padres in 2024, Profar inked a three‑year, $42 million deal with Atlanta in January 2025. He posted a .245 average with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs over 80 games in his inaugural Braves campaign, following an 80‑game suspension that ran from March 31 to July 1.
His earlier suspension stemmed from a positive test for human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone linked to increased testosterone production.
Profar underwent sports‑hernia surgery during the offseason and was projected to shift from left field to the designated‑hitter role this year.
Originally the top prospect in baseball, he broke into the majors with the Texas Rangers at 19 in 2012. Over his career he has compiled a .245 batting average, 125 homers and 487 RBIs in 1,199 games for the Rangers (2012‑13, 2016‑18), the Athletics (2019), the Padres (2020‑24), the Colorado Rockies (2023) and the Braves.
Injuries have frequently interrupted his career; he has surpassed 150 games in a season only twice and missed the entire 2014 and 2015 seasons due to a shoulder problem.
Read next
Winter Paralympics athletes furious over schedule as massive thaw disrupts events
In Cortina d’Ampezzo, the thaw has arrived. Daytime temperatures are climbing into the double‑digit Celsius range, causing snow to melt from the slopes and the “torrenti” of runoff to begin flowing again.
Usually a period when snowfall can be at its peak, the region has seen none since
France to don pale blue kit in England clash amid looming kit dispute
England’s Six Nations showdown in Paris on Saturday might turn into a comedy of errors as France prepare to sport a commemorative pale‑blue jersey that could conflict with the white uniform worn by Steve Borthwick’s team.
Fabian Galthié’s side has announced it will wear the anniversary
Speeding Trust: Bluetooth Link Guides Skier Neil Simpson to Victory
Neil Simpson and his guide Robert Poth captured silver on Tuesday at the Winter Paralympics, delivering Great Britain its inaugural medal of the competition. Yet watching visually‑impaired alpine skiers tear down the Dolomite slopes at speeds approaching 100 km/h serves as a stark reminder that every competitor deserves