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Jeff PassanMar 4, 2026, 04:08 AM<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>ESPN MLB insider Multiple Authors<\/p>\n Atlanta Braves<\/a> designated hitter Jurickson Profar<\/a> received a 162-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug for the second time in the past year, Major League Baseball said Tuesday night.<\/p>\n Profar tested positive for “exogenous testosterone and its metabolites,” the league said, adding that the suspension would take effect Friday.<\/p>\n Profar, 33, is the sixth player to receive a 162-game ban for PED use since MLB increased the penalty for two-time offenders to a full season in 2014. He will forfeit the entirety of his $15 million salary and will be ineligible for the postseason. Profar also will be ineligible for the upcoming World Baseball Classic, where he was set to represent the Netherlands, whose team includes players from his native Curacao.<\/p>\n According to multiple reports, he intends to ask MLB’s players’ union to file a grievance to baseball’s independent arbitrator, Martin F. Scheinman, to appeal any discipline.<\/p>\n In a statement, the Braves said they were “incredibly disappointed” to find out that Profar tested positive.<\/p>\n “Our players are consistently educated about the Program and the consequences if they are found to be in violation,” the team said<\/a>. “The Atlanta Braves fully support the Program.”<\/p>\n The loss of Profar is a significant blow to the Braves, who have already lost starting pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach<\/a> and Hurston Waldrep<\/a> to elbow injuries, as they try to rebound from a 76-86 season. The 2025 season started inauspiciously as well with Profar’s 80-game suspension on March 31 for human chorionic gonadotropin<\/a>, a hormone typically made during pregnancy that can encourage testosterone production.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n Following that suspension, Profar said in a statement that “it is because of my deep love and respect for this game that I would never knowingly do anything to cheat it.” In a statement, at the time, the Braves said they were “surprised and extremely disappointed” but that they “fully support the program and are hopeful Jurickson will learn from this experience.”<\/p>\n Atlanta signed Profar to a three-year, $42 million contract in January 2025 after he had a career year with the San Diego Padres<\/a>. His suspension came following the fourth game of the season and, after returning in early July, he hit .245\/.353\/.434 with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs while playing left field.<\/p>\n After sports hernia surgery in the offseason, Profar was expected to shift to DH and bat toward the top of the Braves’ lineup — perhaps in the No. 2 spot behind former National League MVP Ronald Acuna Jr<\/a>. Though Atlanta has ample options to fill out its lineup — the eventual return of catcher Sean Murphy<\/a> will allow reigning Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin<\/a> to spend some time in a hitting-only role — Profar’s absence puts even more of an onus on first baseman Matt Olson<\/a>, third baseman Austin Riley<\/a>, second baseman Ozzie Albies<\/a>, center fielder Michael Harris II<\/a> and free agent acquisition Mike Yastrzemski<\/a> to produce.<\/p>\n Once the No. 1 prospect in baseball, Profar debuted at 19 years old with Texas and spent more time on the injured list than in the field during his first five seasons. After bouncing among Oakland, San Diego and Colorado, he returned to the Padres in 2024 and hit .280\/.380\/.459 and set career bests in home runs (24) and RBIs (85).<\/p>\n PED suspensions of major leaguers have decreased in recent years, with only two last year (Profar and Philadelphia reliever Jose Alvarado<\/a>) and five in the past three years. Free agent outfielder Max Kepler<\/a> was suspended 80 games in January for a first-time offense. The last player suspended 162 games was Milwaukee reliever J.C. Mejia<\/a> in September 2023. He has not played affiliated baseball since. Others with 162-game penalties include Robinson Cano<\/a> (2020), Francis Martes (2020), Marlon Byrd (2016) and Jenrry Mejia (2015), who later tested positive a third time and remains the only player banned for life for PED violations.<\/p>\n Profar has one year and $15 million remaining on his contract after this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeff PassanMar 4, 2026, 04:08 AM CloseESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-517667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”<\/p>\n