Major League Baseball suspended Atlanta Braves designated hitter Jurickson Profar for 162 games on Tuesday after he tested positive for exogenous testosterone and its metabolites. This marks his second violation of the league's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, following an 80-game ban in 2025. The suspension, effective Friday, March 6, bars him from the entire 2026 season, postseason, and the World Baseball Classic.
Jurickson Profar, who signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Atlanta Braves in January 2025 after a standout 2024 season with the San Diego Padres, faced his second positive test for a performance-enhancing drug. In 2024, Profar earned All-Star and Silver Slugger honors, hitting .280 with a .380 on-base percentage, 24 home runs, and 85 RBI. However, his time with the Braves has been disrupted by PED issues.
On March 31, 2025, Profar tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin, resulting in an 80-game suspension that made him ineligible for the postseason. He played four games before the ban and, upon return on July 2, batted .245/.353/.434 over 80 games, recording 14 home runs, 43 RBI, and 56 runs. The Braves missed the playoffs that year for the first time in eight seasons.
MLB announced the latest suspension Tuesday, stating Profar violated the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. As a second offense, the penalty is 162 games without pay, forfeiting his $15 million 2026 salary. He remains under contract for 2027 at $15 million but is ineligible for any postseason or international play, including the World Baseball Classic for the Netherlands, where he was scheduled to participate. Profar, 33, from Curaçao, was scratched from a Team Netherlands exhibition game Tuesday.
The Braves issued a statement: "We were incredibly disappointed to learn that Jurickson Profar tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance and is in violation of MLB's Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Our players are consistently educated about the Program and the consequences if they are found to be in violation. The Atlanta Braves fully support the Program."
MLB increased the second-offense penalty to a full season in 2014; Profar is the seventh player to receive such a ban, the first since Milwaukee Brewers reliever J.C. Mejia in September 2023. The suspension leaves the Braves, NL East favorites entering spring training, searching for a designated hitter option amid other injuries, including elbow surgeries for pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep.
