Suppose you’re a fan of the little things in baseball — the kind of gritty, grind-it-out moments that don’t always make the highlight reel — Jurickson Profar put on a clinic on Opening Day with the Atlanta Braves.
Sure, the Braves didn’t come away with the win against the Padres, but Profar? He made sure San Diego’s pitching staff earned every out.
A Masterclass in Making Pitchers Sweat
Profar wastes no time by ripping a single to right field in his first at bat. It wasn’t so much about the hits but the battle itself during each time in the batters box from there. He went deep in pitch counts, hitting foul ball after foul ball.
Take the fourth inning. Profar’s staring down a 2-2 count, and he shows the type of skill he has at making contact. He fouls off seven straight pitches before finally grounding out. And that wasn’t a one-time thing.
He repeated the same routine in the sixth and ninth innings, working Padres pitchers like a part-time job. The man had fouled off 15 two-strike pitches by the end of the day. That’s not just battling. That is grinding on every single pitch possible.
Joining an Exclusive Club
And get this — according to Jomboy Media’s own James O’Brien, Profar is now part of an exclusive little club. The last guy to foul off 15 two-strike pitches in a single game? J.T. Realmuto did it back in 2019.
And before that? You’d have to go back to 2018 when Brandon Belt put on an even bigger show with 16 two-strike fouls. That’s how rare Profar’s performance was. You could practically hear Padres closer Robert Suárez grinding his teeth by the ninth inning when his pitch count hit 24 in one frame.
Now, statistically speaking, a 1-for-5 day might not jump off the page. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Forcing pitchers to throw 37 pitches — over a quarter of the Padres’ total for the game — is like running a marathon and making sure your opponent trips over every hurdle. Fatigue adds up. Bullpens get thin. And that’s the kind of thing that pays off over a long series.
A Worthy Investment for the Braves
Profar’s no slouch at the plate. The guy just wrapped up a career year with the Padres, earning his first All-Star nod and a Silver Slugger award. A .280 average, 24 home runs, 85 RBIs, and a tidy 3.6 WAR will do that.
So, when the Braves handed him a three-year, $42 million deal this offseason, it wasn’t just for his bat — it was for moments like this. He’s the guy who makes pitchers sweat, chew through pitch counts, and leave managers pacing the dugout.
Profar’s Opening Day wasn’t about padding the stat sheet. It was about making sure every pitch counted. So far so good.
