Since the start of spring training, Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss has consistently emphasized the importance of maintaining focus. Over the course of a long Major League season staying disciplined can be difficult. Regardless of the obstacles that arise, Atlanta’s manager continues to stress the need for the team to remain committed to fostering a winning environment.
Despite that message, it is difficult to imagine many more obstacles being placed in Weiss’s path during the first month of spring baseball. Just a week ago, the manager absorbed a significant setback when middle-of-the-order bat Jurickson Profar received a full-season suspension after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs for the second time in as many seasons with the Braves.
Both coaches and teammates were initially measured in their responses as they worked to process the loss of Profar once again. However, after the team had several days to gain clarity on the situation, Weiss spoke more openly during an interview with Foul Territory. Weiss' remarks about Profar only underscored how frustrating his costly and avoidable mistake was for the organization.
"He was going to have to win us over, certainly win me over, and he did."
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) March 9, 2026
Braves manager Walt Weiss says he was very disappointed and stunned when he found out about Jurickson Profar's second positive PED test. pic.twitter.com/sAlRHfPsPt
Braves manager claims Profar "won him over," before making the same brutal mistake
Profar’s relationship with his coaches and teammates got off to an understandably rocky start in 2025. Despite his early-season suspension, the clubhouse welcomed him back when he returned in the second half of the year. During his recent interview with Foul Territory, Weiss said Profar had ultimately “won him over,” adding that the veteran became a valued teammate and a respected presence in the clubhouse during the latter part of the 2025 season.
Because of Profar’s on-field production late in the 2025 season—and his reestablished presence in the clubhouse - Weiss and the Braves entered 2026 expecting him to build on the progress he made in the final months of the previous year. Instead, the club was blindsided by another costly misstep from Profar, leaving Weiss to manage the fallout and steady the clubhouse once again.
Fortunately for Atlanta, the first-year manager appears to have done an admirable job of steadying the ship. Weiss acknowledged that the challenges of a long baseball season are often unpredictable, comparing Profar’s suspension to Ronald Acuña Jr.’s knee injury in 2021. While he noted that no one would ever choose circumstances like Acuña’s injury or Profar’s suspension, Weiss emphasized that unforeseen adversity can sometimes serve as the catalyst for a positive outcome.
Weiss and Profar’s teammates were indeed expecting meaningful contributions from him in 2026. While the suspension represents an undeniably frustrating setback, it also creates an opportunity for others in the clubhouse to step forward and reinforce the culture Weiss is working to establish in Atlanta. If the Braves can maintain their focus and rally around that mindset, the early turbulence of spring could ultimately help strengthen the foundation for the season ahead.