MLB bans Braves’ Jurickson Profar for 162 games after second PED violation

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Atlanta Braves arrived at spring training Tuesday expecting to fine-tune a lineup built to erase the memory of a rare losing season. Instead, they learned their projected designated hitter will not play a single regular-season game in 2026.

Major League Baseball has suspended outfielder and designated hitter Jurickson Profar for 162 games without pay after a second violation of the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy, wiping out his entire 2026 season, his postseason eligibility and his planned appearance in the World Baseball Classic.

The Office of the Commissioner announced the discipline Tuesday, saying Profar tested positive for exogenous testosterone and its metabolites, a substance banned under MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The suspension takes effect Friday, March 6, and covers the full 162-game regular season.

With the ban, Profar will forfeit his entire $15 million salary for 2026, the second year of a three-year, $42 million contract he signed with Atlanta in January 2025. He is also barred from participating in this month’s World Baseball Classic, where he had been expected to play for the Netherlands.

“Jurickson Profar has received a 162-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Exogenous Testosterone and its metabolites,” MLB said in a brief statement announcing the penalty.

The league said the positive test violated the jointly negotiated drug program and confirmed the suspension would begin March 6.

Braves say they were blindsided

The Braves, who had counted on Profar as a switch-hitting bat in the middle of their order, said they were surprised by the news.

“We are incredibly disappointed to learn that Jurickson tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance,” the club said in a written statement. “Our players are consistently educated about Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program and the consequences for violating it. We fully support the Program and its enforcement. As a result of this suspension, Jurickson will be ineligible for the 2026 postseason, and the club will not be responsible for his salary during the term of the suspension.”

The team said it would have no further comment. Profar had not issued a public statement on the 2026 suspension as of Tuesday evening.

Second suspension triggers full-season penalty

The ban is Profar’s second in as many seasons and triggers the automatic full-season penalty for a second offense under MLB’s drug agreement.

On March 31, 2025, he was suspended 80 games without pay after testing positive for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a hormone that can be used to stimulate testosterone production.

At the time of the first suspension, Profar said in a statement that he would “never knowingly” take a banned substance, adding that he had “deep love and respect for this game.” He said then that he took “full responsibility and accept[ed] MLB’s decision.”

He missed the first half of the 2025 season and was ruled ineligible for the postseason but returned July 2 and hit a home run in his first game back. Over 80 games with Atlanta last season, he batted .245 with 14 home runs, 43 RBIs and a .787 OPS.

The new suspension places Profar among a small group of players who have received 162-game bans for a second violation since MLB stiffened penalties for performance-enhancing drugs in 2014. That list includes former New York Mets second baseman Robinson Canó and pitcher Jenrry Mejia, among others. A third positive test under the program carries a permanent ban, subject to a reinstatement process.

Possible grievance, uncertain odds

According to people familiar with the situation, Profar intends to ask the Major League Baseball Players Association to file a grievance challenging the suspension. Under the terms of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, such appeals are heard by an independent arbitrator.

Suspensions generally remain in effect unless reduced or overturned, and full reversals in testosterone cases have been uncommon.

Braves’ roster plans disrupted

For the Braves, the immediate concern is on the field. The club finished 76–86 last year, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016 after eight straight postseason appearances.

Atlanta reshaped its roster over the winter with the expectation that Profar, 33, would serve primarily as designated hitter after undergoing sports hernia surgery in November.

The Braves had penciled in an outfield of Mike Yastrzemski in left, Michael Harris II in center and Ronald Acuña Jr. in right, with Profar’s bat slotted into the DH role to lengthen the lineup.

Without him, Atlanta is expected to divide those at-bats among several internal options, including 2025 National League Rookie of the Year catcher Drake Baldwin on days he is not behind the plate, outfielder Eli White and first baseman Dominic Smith, who signed a minor league deal with the team on Feb. 17.

The timing further complicates an already unsettled spring. Projected starting shortstop Ha-seong Kim is sidelined with a finger injury, and utility man Mauricio Dubón has been working as the primary shortstop.

Financial and competitive ripple effects

The financial impact is significant but cuts both ways. Profar’s suspension removes $15 million from the Braves’ 2026 payroll obligations, creating flexibility for in-season trades or potential free-agent additions, and could affect the club’s positioning relative to competitive balance tax thresholds.

At the same time, Atlanta loses a bat that, based on his recent seasons, projected as a key source of power and on-base production.

Netherlands must replace veteran bat for WBC

Profar’s absence will also be felt beyond Georgia. A native of Willemstad, Curaçao, he has long been a mainstay for the Netherlands national team, which draws heavily from Dutch Caribbean talent.

He was in the Netherlands’ camp and on its preliminary roster for the World Baseball Classic and had been scheduled to appear in an exhibition game against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday before being scratched following news of the positive test.

Under MLB’s rules, players serving suspensions under the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program are not eligible to participate in the WBC for the duration of their bans. The Netherlands now must replace a veteran middle-of-the-order presence days before the tournament begins.

A career detour at a pivotal moment

For Profar, the suspension marks another dramatic turn in a career that once seemed destined for stardom. He was ranked baseball’s No. 1 overall prospect before debuting with the Texas Rangers in 2012 at age 19.

A severe shoulder injury cost him the 2014 and 2015 seasons, and he eventually moved through the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies before joining Atlanta.

He enjoyed a career-best year with San Diego in 2024, batting .280 with 24 home runs and 85 RBIs and earning his first All-Star selection. That performance helped set up his three-year deal with the Braves, intended to cover his age-32 to age-34 seasons.

Instead, Profar will not play a regular-season game in his age-33 campaign. By the time he is eligible to return, at the start of the 2027 season, he will be 34 years old with two drug suspensions on his record and one guaranteed year left on his contract.

MLB’s drug program, jointly negotiated with the players’ union, is designed to deter violations through escalating penalties and public disclosure. The full-season ban imposed Tuesday underscores the consequences for repeat offenders, while leaving the Braves and the Netherlands to adjust plans without a player who had been central to both teams’ expectations.