Jurickson Profar’s turnaround has been key for the Padres

Jurickson Profar was one of the worst players in the majors in 2023 but has rebounded in 2024 to lead San Diego back to the postseason.

San Diego Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar had an abysmal 2023 season. And that might be a generous description.

Profar signed a one-year, $7.75 million contact with the Colorado Rockies on March 21 - just nine days before Opening Day on March 30. However, he didn’t even join the team until their fourth game on April 2 against the Padres. And unfortunately for Profar, he never really caught up before being eventually released on August 27. Through 111 games with the Rockies in 2023, Profar hit just .236/.316/.364 with 25 doubles, two triples and eight home runs. He struck out 18.2% of the time and walked just 9.5%, finishing with a bWAR of -1.7 and ranking him dead last in Purple Row’s 2023 Ranking the Rockies series.

2023 was not a good year for Jurickson Profar.

But 2024 has been an outstanding year for Jurickson Profar.

He is currently slashing .283/.382/.466 through a career-high 155 games and boasts a career-high 3.7 bWAR. He was selected not only as a first-time All-Star, but a vote leader in the National League outfield. Both he and Fernando Tatís Jr. were elected as All-Star starters – the first Padres outfielders to earn the distinction since Tony Gwynn in 1999 – but Profar was the only one of the pair to actually start the game since Tatís was on the 60-day injured list with a stress reaction in his right femur and did not see MLB action from June 21-September 2.

So what sparked the change from 2023 to 2024?

“I always expect myself to play like this,” Profar told the San Diego Tribune in May. “I didn’t do it before. But right now I am. I’m this player, man. I am.”

Rockies hitting coach Hensley Meulens has known Profar for a long time, and he also shed light on why he thinks Profar is performing better.

“Well, I think he was embarrassed by the year he had last year,” Meulens said. “He thought he was a much better player overall than he played [in Colorado]. But we also have to remember that he had no spring training. He was not signed until the last week of camp. In fact, he didn’t even break with [the Rockies]. He stayed in Arizona for a couple of days until he met us in San Diego for the last couple of days of the four-game series. So he was kind of delayed from the beginning, and he never caught up with playing the way he could.

“And then he went down to the Dominican [Republic], played Winter Ball, worked with Tatís and his dad fixing his swing, and it worked,” Meulens continued. “I mean, you put in the work for months in the offseason, and I think that’s the main reason why he turned around.”

The adjustments to Profar’s swing seem to be paying off, as he’s hitting career highs in home runs (24), hits (156), singles (103), RBI (85) and wRC+ (141). He ranks among NL leaders in games played (155, 7th), batting average (.283, 10th), runs scored (91, 9th), on-base percentage (.382, 3rd), and total OPS (.848, 8th).

Defensively, Profar is also excelling. Check out these two web gems just from this week:

But beyond physical and mechanical adjustments, another thing that both Profar and Meulens cited was Profar’s ability to relax more this year. He signed with the Padres last August after being released from the Rockies, but then re-signed with the Friars in February – well before the start of spring training.

“He had a normal offseason,” Meulens added. “He worked extra on his hitting, and he wasn’t grinding and signing the contract. All of that stuff is mental for guys, so all of that was behind him. He came into camp normally from the beginning, had a good camp, and then was an All-Star this year. We also just voted for the Silver Slugger.”

Profar also alluded to this in May while talking about some of his young teammates.

“I think they are putting a little bit of pressure on themselves,” he told the San Diego Tribune. “They want it so bad. I’ve been there too. You want something bad, and it doesn’t happen. I want all of them to just tone it down a little bit and just let it happen. Because we are talented. You can do it, but you put a lot of pressure on something, it’s not going to happen.”

He laughed and said, “I learned that.”

With a new swing and a new relaxed mental state, the stars have aligned for Jurickson Profar in 2024. Everything has seemingly gone right, and it’s very possible he could receive NL MVP votes behind the mighty Shohei Ohtani. He’s undoubtedly the Padres’ MVP as they head into the playoffs with a chance to unseat the Los Angeles Dodgers at the top of the NL West. And it’s also quite possible he wins his first-career Silver Slugger.

Jurickson Profar may not have been the best addition to the 2023 Rockies, but his turnaround for the 2024 Padres is truly nothing short of remarkable.