Atlanta Braves Star Profar Hit with Full Season Ban for Second PED Violation

Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar will miss the entire 2026 season after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs for the second time. The 33-year-old player will lose his $15 million salary and become just the sixth MLB player to receive a full-season PED suspension since penalties increased in 2014.

Atlanta Braves outfielder and designated hitter Jurickson Profar will be sidelined for an entire season following his second positive drug test for banned performance-enhancing substances, according to a Tuesday report from ESPN.

The 33-year-old veteran will lose his complete $15 million earnings for the 2026 campaign and cannot participate in playoff games or this month’s World Baseball Classic, where the Curacao-born player was scheduled to represent the Netherlands.

This makes Profar only the sixth major league player to receive a complete season ban for PED violations since baseball officials strengthened penalties for repeat offenders in 2014, ESPN noted.

Following his first All-Star selection with San Diego in 2024, Profar inked a three-year deal worth $42 million with Atlanta this past January. During his debut season with the Braves, he posted a .245 batting average along with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs across 80 contests, after completing an 80-game ban that ran from March 31 through July 1.

His original punishment resulted from a positive test for human chorionic gonadotropin, a pregnancy hormone that can elevate testosterone levels in the body.

After undergoing sports hernia surgery during the off-season, Profar was slated to transition from left field duties to designated hitter for the upcoming campaign.

Once ranked as baseball’s top prospect when he joined the Texas Rangers as a 19-year-old in 2012, Profar holds career statistics of .245 batting average with 125 home runs and 487 RBIs spanning 1,199 games across multiple teams including Texas (2012-13, 2016-18), Oakland (2019), San Diego (2020-24), Colorado (2023), and Atlanta.

Throughout his career, injuries have limited Profar to playing more than 150 games in just two seasons, including missing both the 2014 and 2015 seasons entirely due to shoulder problems.