JURICKSON PROFAR

Position(s): Left field Age: 31 Bats / Throws: Both / Right Height / Weight: 6-foot / 184 pounds How acquired: Signed a one-year deal in February 2024 salary: The incentives in his $1 million contract carried the final payout to $2.5 million Key 2024 stats: .280 avg., .380 OBP, .459 SLG, 24 HRs, 85 RBIs, 94 runs, 10 steals, 76 walks, 101 strikeouts (158 games, 668 plate appearances)

STAT TO NOTE

91.1 — Profar’s average exit velocity in mph in 2024, a career-high and 4.6 points higher than it was in 2023, when he ranked in the bottom-10 percent in the league. Hitting the ball that much harder in 2024 allowed Profar to rank in the top-9 percent in expected batting average (.283), weighted on-base average (.365) and expected weighted on-base average (.364).

TRENDING

Up — A key contributor to Padres playoff runs in 2020 and 2022, Profar opted out of his deal in search of a big payday, settled for one-year contract worth just under $8 million with the Rockies after signing late in the spring of 2023 and was the worst player in the majors, according to WAR (minus-1.6, per fangraphs.com), when Colorado released him that August. Catching on with the Padres for the end of the 2023 season was a precursor to returning to San Diego in 2024 on what proved to be a $1 million lottery ticket. It would be hard to find a better bang for those bucks as Profar started for the NL in the All-Star Game — the first selection of his 11-year career — and set career highs in games (158), runs (94), hits 158), homers (24), RBIs (85), batting average (.280), on-base percentage (.380), OPS (.839) and fWAR (4.3). Profar was especially productive in the first half (.870 OPS) — before Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. found their sea legs — before tailing off after the All-Star break (.794 OPS). Profars production, however, fell off a cliff in the playoffs as he drove in just one run in seven games (.486 OPS).