Can Jurickson Profar take Braves offense to next level?

Individually, the Braves offense has been better recently, but Jurickson Profar’s return can take them to another level.

Ozzie Albies has posted a wRC+ that is 30% above league average in his last 24 games. In a similar span, Matt Olson has an OPS north of 1.000, and Ronald Acuna Jr. has come back to remind everyone how special he is.

However, left field has been an absolute black hole for the Braves. Profar’s suspension was a gut punch to begin the season. Jarred Kelenic and Bryan De La Cruz were dreadful, but then Eli White and Alex Verdugo came into the fold.

The former was batting nearly .300 with an OPS over .800 over a 30-game stretch, and the latter hit over .300 with an .825 OPS over his first 14 games with the Braves. That success didn’t last long, though, as Chase pointed out.

“White has just two hits in his last 13 games — good for a .067 batting average and .233 OPS. However, he did hit a critical home run in last night’s game against the Brewers. Meanwhile, Verdugo is hitting just .200 over his last 30 games with absolutely no power to speak of, leading to a .479 OPS.”

The left field position has been atrocious. So, while some Braves fans will point out Profar’s ineligibility in the playoffs or his outlier of a career year in 2024, those arguments don’t hold water. Getting to the postseason is the first and only priority of the club right now. Brian Snitker and Alex Anthopoulos can figure out the rest if the Braves even clinch a playoff berth.

Additionally, even if Profar’s return proves that his 2024 campaign was the result of PED use, his career averages are still an improvement over what the Braves have gotten from their other left fielders. Braves left fielders have a slash line of .210/.262/.280 and a .542 OPS, with an sOPS+ of 55, which basically means that Atlanta’s left fielders have an OPS that is 45% below the rest of the league’s left fielders.

Meanwhile, across his career, excluding his 2024 campaign, Profar has a slash line of .238/.322/.383 and a .706 OPS, which is barely below league average over that span. That’s a tremendous improvement from what the Braves have gotten from the position.

Jurickson Profar might never have a year like he did in 2024 with the Braves, but his career averages beforehand are still an improvement.