Second baseman Jurickson Profar rode the bench in favor of the just-promoted Corban Joseph for the Athletics’ victory over the Giants on Wednesday. It’s the beginning of a trend for Profar, who’s in for a “greatly reduced role,” Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Most of the switch-hitting Profar’s action will come against left-handed pitchers, Slusser explains, with the lefty-swinging Joseph and righty Chad Pinder set to eat into his playing time.
A late-season reduction in at-bats for Profar isn’t what the Athletics had in mind when they acquired him last winter, especially now that they’re locked in a playoff race. The addition of Profar from Texas in a three-way trade that also included Tampa Bay cost Oakland standout reliever Emilio Pagan and infield/outfield prospect Eli White. It didn’t look like an unreasonable price to pay for Profar, a once-prized prospect who finally lived up to some of his past promise in 2018. After largely disappointing from 2012-17, Profar batted .254/.335/.458 (108 wRC+) with 20 home runs, 10 steals and 2.9 fWAR as a 25-year-old last season.
The A’s likely expected more of the same from Profar this season, if not an even better performance. Instead, though, Profar has batted a miserable .205/.268/.382 (70 wRC+) through 395 PA. While Profar has swatted 15 homers and totaled seven more steals, his weak batting line and subpar reviews at second (minus-10 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-0.8 Ultimate Zone Rating), have limited him to a replacement-level impact in 2019. It may go down as the lone year with the Athletics for Profar. While he still has another season of arbitration control, in which Profar will hope to earn a raise over his current salary of $3.6MM, Slusser casts doubt on the possibility of him returning to the team in 2020.
Regardless of what his future holds, Profar – to his credit – is taking his demotion in stride, as he told Slusser: “I don’t feel like I’ve been contributing like I’m capable of, so I’m OK with it. I’ll just keep working and try to find it.”
Profar’s troubles have come against righties, who have held him to a .177/.245/.372 line (compared to a solid .304/.353/.418 versus lefties). A deeper dive into Profar’s numbers does indicate some bad fortune has factored into his woes. Profar has typically run low batting averages on balls in play in his career, evidenced by his lifetime .257 BABIP, but this year’s .205 mark is way down even by his standards. Meanwhile, according to Statcast, his .302 expected weighted on-base average easily outpaces his .278 real wOBA. Profar also remains difficult to strike out, having done so at a 15.2 percent clip this year.
Granted, those aren’t overwhelming positives, so the Athletics want to explore alternatives at the keystone. Manager Bob Melvin told Slusser the A’s aren’t “getting as much production as we want at that position, so maybe you look elsewhere.” That’ll lead them to Joseph, a 30-year-old with a mere 31 major league plate appearances under his belt.
This should have been done two months ago. Better to make the change now then never.
They tried then to but Baretto couldnt lock it down. I have been waiting for them to call up Mateo since he was having a great season, and is already on the 40 man, but I think he is on the IL now.
Heard Slusser mention Mateo being in contention for a starting role come next season, so he will definitely have his shot next year.
Bust. Teams need to get over this.
I agree. But it’s hard to when you traded a guy like Pagan for him. Oakland tried their best to get their money’s worth. It’s good timing honestly, now that they’re in the last stretch
Yea, his breakout year last year was really helped by the fact he played in Arlington half the time.
Chad Pinder? Where on Earth is Jorge Mateo….
Mateo’s on the IL
.302 xWOBA is obviously better than a .274 WOBA but it’s not even remotely decent. Not much to like about anything profar has done this year.
this is why you dont trade for a guy after one good season. and lets face it, it wasnt even as good as most people made it out to be.
Profar has been a real bust. Not to mention losing Pagan who’s done exceptionally well for TB, DJ LeMahieu was out there for a cheap price. I really wanted them to sign DJ in the offseason. Now, I didn’t expect this kind of season from him. I just wanted him for the gold glove defense. If there’s any bright side to this, at least we didn’t resign Jed Lowrie…
Looking back on it, that was a terrible trade. Thought profar would produce way more and although I knew Pagan had a down year last year I didn’t think he would be that good this year. Definitely would take that deal back in a heartbeat.
I believe the A’s made LeMahieu a similar offer that the Yanks made…
DJ told his agent he wanted to be a Yankee and to make it happen.
Pagan was terrible while with the A’s. The Rays ‘fixed’ Pagan. If Pagan has stayed with the A’s he would most likely be getting ridden out of Las Vegas on a rail.
ole Jed Lowrie’s husk has out-performed Profar…
Its not a good year for 2B. Jurickson Profar is about average in this group:
Joey Wendell
Eduardo Nunez
Ian Kinsler
Josh Harrison
Jed Lowrie
Robinson Cano
Addison Russell
Yolmer Sanchez
Jason Kipnis
Jonathan Schoop
Brian Dozier
Rougned Odor
Starlin Castro
Joe Panik
Scooter Gennett
Jose Peraza
Derek Dietrich