Atlanta Braves veteran Jurickson Profar tested positive for PEDs for the second time in a year and faces a 162-game ban.

Veteran designated hitter/outfielder Jurickson Profar was suspended for 80 games last season due to a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs. File Photo by Casey Sykes/UPI UPI Atlanta Braves designated hitter/outfielder Jurickson Profar hit .245 with 14 home runs last season. File Photo by Julian Alexander/UPI UPI Atlanta Braves outfielder/designated hitter Jurickson Profar hit .245 over his first 12 seasons. File Photo by Casey Sykes/UPI UPI Outfielder/designated hitter Jurickson Profar (L) signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Atlanta Braves in January of 2025. File Photo by Mike Zarrilli/UPI UPI Outfielder/designated hitter Jurickson Profar hit a career-high 24 home runs in 2024 for the San Diego Padres. File Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI UPI

March 3 (UPI) -- Atlanta Braves veteran Jurickson Profar tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug for the second time in a year and faces a 162-game ban.

Sources told ESPN, The Athletic and the New York Post about the positive test. MLB suspended Profar last March for 80 games after he tested positive for chorionic gonadotropin, a performance-enhancing substance.

Players who test positive for performance-enhancing substances on two occasions are given automatic 162-game suspensions under the terms of MLB's joint drug prevention and treatment program. A third violation results in a permanent ban.

Profar, who signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Braves in January 2025, would forfeit his $15 million salary in 2026 because of the new violation.

The 33-year-old outfielder/designated hitter also will be ineligible to compete for the Netherlands in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. He was not in the Netherlands' starting lineup for an exhibition game against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla.

...

Profar achieved career-high totals with 24 home runs, 85 RBIs, 10 stolen bases, a .280 batting average and 158 appearances for the San Diego Padres in 2024, when he earned his first All-Star selection. He hit .245 with 14 home runs, 43 RBIs and nine stolen bases over 80 appearances last season.

The 12-year veteran hit .245 with 125 home runs, 487 RBIs and 66 stolen bases over the first 1,199 appearances of his MLB career. The former Texas Rangers utility man also suited up for the Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies.

The Braves will host the Toronto Blue Jays in a spring training matchup at 1:05 p.m. EST Thursday in Venice, Fla.