Profar confident he’s going to ‘make it work’ for Rangers

Jurickson Profar looked like a ballplayer Thursday morning before his Arizona Fall League debut, or a hitter at least.

“Almost a ballplayer,” he said at Salt River Fields, the temporary home of the Surprise Saguaros.

Despite his best lobbying, Profar will serve only as a designated hitter this fall as the Texas Rangers take a cautious approach with his right shoulder, which failed him three times before he finally had surgery in February.

The game’s former top prospect has missed the past two seasons.

But Profar, still only 22, is confident that his shoulder will hold and that he will be in the major leagues in 2016, possibly on Opening Day. Granted, he doesn’t have a position to play and still has to show that his throwing arm is healthy, but what he lacks in opportunity he makes up for in confidence.

“All I can say is I’m going to be in a good position,” Profar said. “I know I can play. I know it’s going to be good.”

He looked good at the plate at Scottsdale Stadium, doubling in the first inning and tying the game in the ninth with a solo homer as Surprise beat Scottsdale in 10 innings.

Profar said that this recovery will be different from the others for one significant reason, he underwent surgery. The procedure, by team physician Dr. Keith Meister, fixed a labrum tear Profar suffered years earlier in the minor leagues but never had fixed.

Without the labrum, his shoulder lacked stability and caused the subscapularis muscle to tear three times, the last two times as he threw at 105 feet. He reached that point this summer without any issues, and has started a new throwing program that will take him to 160 feet.

If Profar gets there without any issues, he’ll be cleared to play defense. He underwent an MRI on Tuesday that showed no issues, and he is confident that he will avoid another setback.

“Those other times I didn’t do surgery,” said Profar, who elected against surgery in 2014. “I didn’t have a labrum. The labrum is fixed, so it’s going to work this time. I’m going to make it work.”

Profar seems destined to begin next season in the minor leagues after missing out on two years’ worth of at-bats and grounders. Rougned Odor has taken the position Profar was supposed to play in 2014, second base, and shortstop Elvis Andrus remains entrenched at shortstop, the position Profar played in the minors.

Using him as a utility player, where at-bats come irregularly, doesn’t make much sense. Nevertheless, the Rangers were glad to see him on the field Thursday.

“It’s been a long time, two years basically,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “We have to get this guy healthy first. He missed a lot of at-bats, a lot of reps, a lot of playing time. You can make a pretty good case that he needs to go out and play every day.”

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Profar confident he’s going to ‘make it work’ for Rangers."