Atlanta Braves skipper Walt Weiss expressed his disappointment Wednesday while maintaining an optimistic perspective following Jurickson Profar’s year-long suspension for the 2026 campaign.
Major League Baseball handed down the suspension Tuesday after Profar failed his second test for performance-enhancing substances.
The outfielder and designated hitter had been slated as a regular starter, potentially batting second behind Ronald Acuña Jr. in Atlanta’s order. Speaking with media before Wednesday’s exhibition matchup against Team Colombia in North Port, Florida, Weiss drew parallels to how the Braves captured the 2021 championship despite losing Acuña to a knee injury.
“The moral of the story is something good is likely to come from the bad news,” Weiss said. “It just tends to happen that way. Someone’s gonna step up, someone’s gonna get an opportunity. In 2021, the day we lost Ronald, nobody’s picking that option. And nobody’s taking this option. But guess what, and I truly believe that something good will come of this.”
Weiss served as Atlanta’s bench coach from 2018 until his November 3rd promotion to manager, taking over after Brian Snitker stepped down.
The commissioner’s office revealed that Profar’s test showed exogenous testosterone and related metabolites – testosterone not naturally produced by his body. Since this marked his second violation, the penalty stretched to 162 games.
Despite Profar’s plans to challenge the ruling, Weiss acknowledged he must plan for a full season without the player.
Profar earned All-Star honors in 2024 but previously served an 80-game ban last March 31 for testing positive for Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG), a hormone that stimulates testosterone production. At that time, he released a statement saying: “I would never willingly take a banned substance, but I take full responsibility and accept MLB’s decision.”
Catcher Drake Baldwin, who claimed 2025 NL Rookie of the Year honors, filled the designated hitter role Wednesday. Weiss indicated the DH position will remain “fairly fluid” in Profar’s absence.
The manager praised the offseason acquisition of left fielder Mike Yastrzemski on a two-year, $23 million contract. Yastrzemski will join Acuña and Michael Harris as the expected starting outfield trio. Profar would have potentially rotated with Yastrzemski in left field when Baldwin served as DH, but now Eli White may fill the fourth outfielder role.
Mauricio Dubon will begin the season at shortstop while Ha-Seong Kim recovers from a finger ailment. Once Kim returns, Dubon could provide additional outfield depth.
Weiss emphasized that Profar’s suspension “doesn’t change anything we do here. We’re getting ready for our season, and it doesn’t change anything about our camp. There’ll be opportunities created because of this. It’s not something that we would choose but that’s where we’re at, and it’s onward. That’s the message, and we have a professional group. They’re handling it really well and very focused.”
The manager has not spoken directly with Profar, whom he had recently commended for his leadership following last year’s suspension return.
“Look, I said that and I talked about him winning me over last year and he did,” Weiss said. “I’m not gonna change that. The fact of the matter is he was a really good teammate last year, and was a good player for us, was a leader in our clubhouse, you know? And that’s what I said. None of us saw this coming. So yeah, I stand by what I said at that point in time. And again, we’ll let this (appeal) process play out.”
