One of the Worst Spring Trainings in Braves History Continues to Spiral

The Atlanta Braves have had a miserable first couple of weeks of the MLB calendar year. The season is still weeks away, but the hits have just kept coming down in North Port. The looming suspension of outfield Jurickson Profar for PEDs is just the latest in what has been a dreadful spring training for Atlanta.

Jurickson Profar is facing a full-season suspension after a second PED violation, marking another blow for the Braves' season before it's even begun. @TBM929 and @randymac81 react. pic.twitter.com/lb7l04AQIY
— 92.9 The Game (@929TheGame) March 3, 2026

“We can’t even get the damn Braves back to Atlanta,” 92.9 The Game Midday Show co-host Randy McMichael said, teeming with frustration. McMichael compared the plight of the situation in North Port to that of the Atlanta Falcons and their off-field legal issues that seem to keep popping up this offseason.

Andy Bunker agreed, saying, “When people say it can’t get worse, we always try to stop them. Because don’t tempt the gods, man. They’re messing with us. It is genuinely unbelievable.”

Profar, who was Atlanta’s big free agency splash in 2025, was also suspended for PEDs last season. He played in the first three games of the year before a failed drug test cost him the next 81 games, derailing the Braves’ season in the process.

“He came back, and the season was cooked at that point,” Bunker said. “It’s not entirely on him, but it certainly didn’t help. And then this now – the second suspension means he’ll miss the whole season, so he’s out. This is on the heels of this offseason’s big free agent signing, shortstop [Ha-Seong Kim] getting hurt before anything started!

“You’re going to start the season without him. And then two of your starting pitchers are on the 60-day IL to start the year because they had loose bodies in their elbows, again, before they did anything at spring training.”

The outfielder came back and batted .245 with a .787 OPS, 14 home runs, and 43 RBIs in 80 games. He was set to make $15 million, with a $14 million luxury cap hit, but he will be suspended without pay for the duration of the season.

Profar is expected to challenge the suspension, but he is just the sixth player to receive a 162-game suspension from the league office.

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The Braves have now lost four starters before the season gets started. Kim was lost for several months because he slipped on some ice in Korea. Meanwhile, Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Schwellenbach had to undergo surgeries for ‘loose bodies’ and bone spurs in their respective elbows.

The spring training of nightmares for the Braves just continues to spiral further and further out of control.