Jurickson Profar wasn't guaranteed a starting role when he re-upped with the Padres on a one-year deal last offseason, but the veteran outfielder not only maintained an everyday spot in the lineup, he put together his first All-Star and Silver Slugger campaign while blowing away his previous career-best mark with an .839 OPS. Profar has always been adept at making contact and maintaining good plate discipline, and that was evidenced again in 2024 with his 15.1 percent strikeout rate along with a chase rate and whiff rate that were both in the top 90th percentile leaguewide. Where he really made strides, though, was in the quality of his contact -- Profar's average exit velocity (91.1 percent) ranked in the 80th percentile across baseball while his 44.4 percent hard-hit rate ranked in the 71st percentile. Those are stark contrasts to his previous campaigns, as Profar had never before ranked above even the 25th percentile in either category since Statcast was introduced. Such a dramatic improvement naturally begs for an explanation, and the answer for Profar likely lies in a change to his batting stance that also helped produce a career-best 7.2 percent barrel rate. While it needs to be noted that Profar's numbers tailed off to some extent late in the season, it should also be mentioned that he followed a miserable August during which he batted just .196 with a .689 OPS with a bounce-back September that included a .275 batting average and .818 OPS. Profar's outstanding campaign will likely land him a significant pay raise in 2025, and while his lack of speed, non-elite power and poor previous track record prevents him from being among fantasy's most desirable outfielders, he could settle within the top 25 to 30 at the position given his 2024 numbers and the underlying metrics that support them.
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