Jurickson Profar: From Bust to All-Star
All the way back in 2012, Jurickson Profar was the top prospect in all of baseball with the Texas Rangers. He was ranked above notable players like Gerrit Cole, Francisco Lindor, Christian Yelich, Zack Wheeler, and current Padres teammate Manny Machado. The Curacao native originally signed with the Rangers in 2009, as he rapidly shot up prospect rankings. Profar was a highly touted prospect and one of the best players coming out of Curacao, even representing them in the 2004 Little League World Series. After a nine-game stint in 2012 with the Rangers in 2012, the top prospect played 85 games in 2013, where he struggled both at the plate and with injuries.
He was underwhelming in 2013, as he batted .234 with six home runs, 26 RBIs and a .644 OPS Profar would go on to miss the entire 2014 season with a shoulder injury. Once returning, Profar continued to struggle with the Rangers, as he only had one season with an OPS+ over league average with the team before he went to Oakland after the 2018 season. His struggles continued, with a .219 batting average with the Athletics. By this time, he was called a bust by many fans around the league, bouncing around with multiple stints with the Padres and half a season with the Rockies. Up to this point, through 10 seasons and 961 games, Profar had a .239 average with 87 home runs, 359 RBIs, and a below-league average of 92 OPS+. Similarly, he only had three seasons with an OPS+ over 100, which is the league average, and only played 56 games in one of those seasons. However, in 2024, Profar has finally lived up to the hype.
At the age of 31, Profar is having the best season of his career and has been elected to his first MLB All-Star Game. He will also be starting the game. So far, through 90 games, is batting .316 with 13 home runs, 57 RBIs, and an absurd 157 OPS+. A big contributor to this newfound success is a National League-best .409 on-base percentage. Profar’s comeback season thus far was encapsulated by his ninth-inning, game-tying homer last night against the Diamondbacks. This is one of the best stories this season, and as a baseball fan, you can’t help but be happy for the once hyped-up prospect.
