Jurickson Profar's heartfelt interview at All-Star Game has Padres fans tearing up

For many star players around Major League Baseball, success comes quickly. Their talent is evident from when they are in the minor leagues, and guys like Ronald Acuna Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge are among the best players on the field from day one. However, for guys like San Diego Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar, the path to stardom is occasionally much longer.

While Profar was once considered one of the best prospects in all of baseball back in 2011, results in the big leagues were harder to come by. From 2012-2023, Profar boasted a career .706 OPS across nearly 1,000 career games, and while he showed flashes of his talent, he struggled to put things together over an entire season and battled injuries.

2024 has been an entirely different story for Profar after he signed with San Diego late in the offseason. He has been among the best hitters in all of baseball in 2024 and was a starter in what was his first All-Star Game appearance. The genuine humility and appreciation he showed when he was interviewed at the All-Star festivities has us thinking someone is cutting onions in here.

Jurickson Profar has been one of the Padres', and MLB's, best stories in 2024

If we are being honest with ourselves for a moment, it is likely that Profar's 2024 season is going to be a one-off performance. He has never hit like this before, is 31 years old with a bit of an injury history, and all of the historical data suggests that he will come back to earth at some point.

However, that doesn't matter right now. Profar's emergence is everything that is right about baseball. He has been playing so well that the Dodgers' Will Smith had to apologize at the ASG for calling him irrelevant earlier in the season. Profar plays with great energy, has had huge moments for San Diego in the first half, and is someone that is absolutely loved by his teammates and peers. Just because something isn't meant to last doesn't mean it isn't beautiful.

Perhaps Profar will have a career renaissance from here on out and will rake for a few more years. Maybe this is truly the best we will ever see out of him. All that truly matters is that for a brief amount of time, Profar gave Padres fans and baseball fans someone worth cheering for, because he knows better than anyone how long a road he had to travel to earn that support.

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