Padres' Jurickson Profar Diagnosed with Concussion, Neck Injury After Scary Collision
July 8, 2022
The San Diego Padres announced Friday that outfielder Jurickson Profar has been diagnosed with a concussion and cervical neck strain after colliding with a teammate Thursday against the San Francisco Giants.
The Padres also said Profar was discharged from the hospital overnight.
Both Profar and rookie shortstop C.J. Abrams attempted to catch a fly ball in shallow left field and ran into each other. Profar took the brunt of the impact as Abrams' knee hit him in the jaw.
Profar attempted to walk off the field but collapsed. He was placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
After the game, Padres manager Bob Melvin said Profar didn't feel any tingling and didn't lose consciousness despite collapsing.
Melvin also noted that Profar helped lighten the mood during the scary situation:
"It's awful, but he makes it easier on the fact that he's smiling. He's laying there smiling. We get him up but all of a sudden he goes down again. Any time you put somebody on a stretcher like that it's an awful feeling. But looking at him, the way he is trying to make everybody feel OK about it with a smile on his face, makes you feel a little bit better."
Profar, 29, is in the midst of his third season with the Padres and is enjoying a solid year offensively.
In 83 games, almost all of which have been spent in left field, Profar has a .242/.343/.397 slash line with eight home runs, 38 RBI, 50 runs scored and four stolen bases.
It is already an improvement over last season when Profar hit .227 with four homers and 33 RBI in 137 games.
The Curacao native broke into the big leagues at the age of 19 in 2012 with the Texas Rangers. At the time, he was heralded as one of the top infield prospects in baseball.
After five seasons, Texas dealt Profar to the Oakland Athletics, who traded him to the Padres after one campaign.
His best season to date remains 2017 with the Rangers when he hit .254 with a career-high 20 home runs, 77 RBI, 82 runs and 10 steals.
Profar has played all over the diamond in his career, but he has settled in as San Diego's starting left fielder this season.
His absence is a major loss for a Padres team that is second in the National League West at 48-36, six games behind the league-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.