'He's a beast': Profar going from comeback kid to cult hero

This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SAN DIEGO -- My first reaction when the Nationals chose to intentionally walk Luis Arraez in the 10th inning on Monday? “Completely reasonable. There aren't many hitters in baseball more likely to score two runs with a hit.”

My second reaction? “Oh ... Jurickson Profar isn't going to like this one bit.”

Any slight -- real or perceived -- is going to be noted by Profar and subsequently used as fuel. Sure enough, after he was knocked down with a high-and-tight fastball, Profar delivered a walk-off two-run single with the bases loaded.

One day later, Profar was at the center of a skirmish around home plate because the Nationals did not like his walk-off celebration. He responded by launching a decisive grand slam, setting the Padres on course for a sweep.

"Every time they poke that bear, that bear comes in swinging," Manny Machado said. "Keep poking him all you want. He carries us big time when they do."

It's hard to overstate just how much Profar's teammates love being Jurickson Profar's teammate. His opponents? Not so much. He's just that type of player. You love him when he's on your team and you probably can't stand him when he's on the other side, jumping around and celebrating in front of your dugout.

“If I'm on the other team and the guy hits a grand slam, [piles up] RBIs, scores runs, of course I'm not going to like that guy,” said outfielder David Peralta. “'This guy's killing my team.' Of course I'm going to hate it.”

Peralta has the unique perspective of having played against Profar for years before joining the Padres this season.

“I played against him for a long time,” Peralta said. “Everyone knows he's emotional and he plays the game hard, all that stuff. Then I get here, and I get to know him more inside the clubhouse. He's a calm person, a super nice guy, beautiful family -- he's just great. Maybe you can't see that from the outside.”

Profar is in the midst of a renaissance season in San Diego. Signed off the scrap heap in February, he has been the Padres’ heart and soul this year, hitting .316 with an .892 OPS and leading all National League outfielders in wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs.

Tonight, Major League Baseball will unveil its finalists in All-Star voting, and Profar will almost certainly be among them. In the latest update, he led all NL outfielders with 1,646,276 votes. At this point, it would qualify as a travesty if Profar missed out on a storybook trip to Texas, where his career began.

“If he’s not in the All-Star Game, we’ve got to recount,” manager Mike Shildt said on Tuesday afternoon. “This guy’s been one of the better players in baseball. He should be in that lineup -- and in a prominent spot.”

Said rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill: “He’s a beast. A leader. … He’s not afraid of anybody. That shows how we all are as a team; we’re not afraid of anybody.”

Indeed, the Padres are quick to note that Profar’s value is only partially told by his production.

“The numbers are huge,” Shildt said. “We’re at where we’re at because of that. But we’re also in a good place overall, with a lot of obstacles. … And we’re in a good place because of the way he goes about his business -- his residual value of how he brings people along with him.

“He brings value in what he does -- the grand slam [for example]. But he also brings value in: ‘I’m just going to go out and be a good teammate.’ He’s going to bring the people around him up. That’s what winning players do.”