SURPRISE, Ariz. _ Jurickson Profar was answering a question about the curtailing of his playing time last summer when he was with the Oakland A's.
"I think my defense hurt everything last year," he said one morning last week. "I was going to the plate trying to do too much to forget the errors."
Suddenly, as if the word "forget" was a trigger, Profar remembered he had to stop referring to what was.
"But this year it's all in the past," he said quickly. "I'm ready to go and help this team."
It was as if he heard infield coach Bobby Dickerson's voice.
What? I don't know what you're talking about.
That was what Dickerson would say when Profar started talking about last season during the five days he spent at Dickerson's Mississippi home in January.
"I wanted him to move on from last year," Dickerson said. "He kept referring to it _ 'Last year ...' I wanted him to talk about now."
After acquiring Profar in a trade last offseason, the A's moved Profar to second base full-time in 2019.
The result was mostly a step back for Profar, who with the Rangers in 2018 posted a career-high .793 OPS (on-base-plus-slugging percentage) thanks to a .335 OBP and 20 home runs (almost twice as many as he hit in his first 206 big-league games).
While he again hit 20 homers in '19, his OPS dipped to .711 and he committed 13 errors at second base. Eleven were throwing errors, and of those seven came in the first 28 games (247 innings, 127 chances).
Profar made his major league debut as a 19-year-old who was considered the top prospect in baseball. He started more games at second base than any other position but also played shortstop, third base and even four games in left field.
But from 2016-18, after shoulder injuries sidelined him all of '14 and '15, Profar played just 220 innings at second. (He played 669 at shortstop, 585 at third base, 278 at first and 176 in left.)
"I always play a lot of positions," Profar said. "But I always play shortstop and third base more than second base. Last year, I had a lot of trouble because of that. Second base is closer, so I try to put the ball there instead of just throwing it."
This spring is very much about Profar throwing from second base _ and second only. The Padres expect that he will give them innings at the other spots during the season, but they have so far worked him exclusively at second.
"Right now this is where we need him to play _ and play well," Dickerson said.
"That's very good for me," Profar said of the finite focus. "I've been working every day and doing great."
The Padres acquired Profar in a trade with the A's in December, anticipating the likelihood he would be platooned with Greg Garcia at second. Sunday's acquisition of veteran Brian Dozier added intrigue to the competition, and the clear indication around the Padres' complex is the competition is legitimately wide open, with Profar needing to show he can get his offensive numbers back to '18 levels and fix the throws.
A stickler for details, which requires repetition, Dickerson regularly reminds Profar to just throw without thinking about it. His infield mates have gotten in on the encouragement.
Tira la pelota.
That's what Manny Machado yelled across the diamond during a drill the other day.
"They're great players," Profar said of being in the infield with Machado, Eric Hosmer and Fernando Tatis Jr. "They push me to get at their level."
Profar put up just 0.8 WAR (wins above replacement) in 2019, largely due to his negative ratings on defense. His 28 "bad throws" had him ranked 29th out of 30 second basemen in arm accuracy, according to the analytics site Inside Edge. Out of 31 players who spent at least 500 innings at second base last season, Profar ranked 25th with a 96.9% success rate on plays deemed to be almost certain. Dozier was 11th (98.4), Garcia 16th (98.1).
On the first day Dozier was on the practice field, Profar struggled with some throws Monday morning. He started against the Royals in the afternoon, going 0-for-2 at the plate and making a perfect throw to first base on the only grounder hit his way.
Looking back once more before again turning his focus forward, Profar acknowledged moving on from the Rangers _ who signed him as a 16-year-old out of Curacao in 2009 _ was difficult and added to his challenge last season.
"It was very tough for me last year," he said. "This year, I'm past last year's experience. So I'm ready to go."
