San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
ON-FIELD SMILE GENUINE
Now in his third season with San Diego, Jurickson Profar, 29, signed a threeyear deal with the Padres in 2021 and this season was reunited with manager Bob Melvin, whom he played under in 2019 with the Oakland Athletics. Signed by the Rangers out of Curacao, Profar played five major league seasons for Texas, missing 2014 and 2015 due to injuries.
Q: You worked with Fernando Tatis Jr. in the Dominican Republic during the offseason, at his dad’s baseball academy. How did that help and what specifically did you work on? A: Just baseball stuff. Hitting, running, fielding and of course, his dad is a former major league player, and he always talked to us at the end of the practice or at home. Even after games here, he watches every game and we talk about everything and he keeps giving me advice and stuff. … The mental part of the game, he helps a lot.
Q: This is your ninth season. How much of it do you think is mental now that you look back on it? A: This game is a game of failure. You’re gonna fail most of the time. You need people like that around you to help you.
Q: Ten years ago you made your major league debut. You were just 19, and the No. 1 prospect. You hit a home run in your first major league at-bat, then a double after that. So your career started off great. Two years later, you went through some injuries and it changed the trajectory of your career. That must have been difficult, especially early on.
A: Yes, I missed two years of baseball and it was a lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance to come back. It wasn’t easy, but I made it back. Thank God. … Seeing your teammates and your team play and you can’t do anything for two years, it was very hard.
Q: But here you are. You’ve played all over the field — infield, outfield, wherever they want to put you. What was the hardest position for you to learn or to adapt to?
A: I think second base because I always played on the left side, at shortstop and third base. So second base was difficult for me, it was different.
Q: Do you like playing left field?
A: Yeah, I love left field. It’s kind of like shortstop. It’s the same angle, that’s why I like it.
Q: Do the fans talk to you while you’re out there in the outfield? Do they heckle you?
A: I say hi to most of them, yes. Not on the road, on the road they give you a hard time all the time. So that’s why I love it when I’m home. I can relax. I mean I relax on the road, too. But they talk a lot...
Q: A lot of trash talk. Do you ever want to turn around and just give them a piece of your mind?
A: No, no, no, I like giving them a piece when I hit a home run or make a catch. Or we win. You know, that’s the payback for them.
Q: You’re a relaxed player and you’re known for flashing your smile. Have you always been that way? A: Yes, always. … That’s something that since I was a little kid, a lot of people embrace that. Even my mom, she said whenever I wake up, I wake up with a smile. It’s something I can’t help.
Q: OK, let’s go back to when you won the Little League World Series playing for Curacao in 2004. You were a pitcher . ... You struck out 19 hitters in 121⁄3 innings and only allowed one run. What were you like as a pitcher?
A: I was throwing pretty hard. I had — I still have a pretty good arm — but before my labrum surgery I had a cannon, like a really good arm. So that’s why at a young age I was pitching, too, because I was throwing pretty hard. … I was throwing 93 (mph) when I was 15.
Q: Did you like being a pitcher?
A: No, I don’t like it but they put me there because I was throwing hard. I always liked playing shortstop. … I like to play every day. I like to have fun every day. There’s a lot of pressure as a pitcher. I don’t think they have fun. I don’t know. Maybe they do.
Q: So all the teams wanted you as a pitcher. But the Rangers drafted you as an infielder. Why?
A: It was A.J. (Preller). A.J. and (Rangers Director
of International Scouting) Mike Daly (who is now with the Padres as assistant farm director).
Q: What was it like growing up playing baseball in Curacao?
A: For me, I watched a lot of Braves games because of Andruw Jones. A lot of us (from Curacao) that are in the major leagues, we grew up watching Andruw Jones.
Q: Has your family ever been able to come see you play here?
A: They always come. They’ve never been to San Diego because of the COVID year and then last year, too. So, hopefully this year. I have a little brother that’s playing baseball. So my parents they have to be with him, you know? He’s 14.
Q: You have a 4-year-old son, Khairy, who is like a mini version of you. He’s got your smile, your personality and he’s starting to play baseball this year. Are you having fun teaching him and does he listen to you?
A: I think he learns from the league. He loves baseball. He’s watching baseball more than me. He’s playing baseball all the time. He’s watching baseball all the time. So I just let him have fun.
Q: If you weren’t a major league baseball player, what would you be? A: Definitely a soccer player. … I’d be a professional for sure. You know, my drive. I would have been really good. Really good.
Annie Heilbrunn is a freelancer.