What looked like a total snoozefest in San Diego through four innings ended up producing the moment of the year in the sport so far. The San Diego Padres trimmed an 8-0 lead to 8-7 by the bottom of the eighth inning and sent Fernando Tatís Jr. to the plate as the go-ahead run against Chicago Cubs closer Adbert Alzolay. Maybe you can guess what happened next.
Fernando Tatis Jr. for the lead!
The @Padres have stormed all the way back from 8-0 down! pic.twitter.com/inwjsDx0Mn
— MLB (@MLB) April 9, 2024
Tatís launched a two-run homer to deep left field, punctuated by an epic bat flip (via Talkin' Baseball), a scream of jubilation and a Petco Park frenzy that woke up everyone from Bakersfield to Guadalajara.
It was a singularly great baseball highlight, punctuated by a picture-perfect call from Don Orsillo on the broadcast. But it also meant much more than just a loss turning into a win for the Padres. It signaled that Tatís, who has already endured many bumps on the road as a 25-year-old superstar, is ready to ascend back to the top of the game and claim his first career NL MVP.
Removing the stigma from Tatís' PED suspension
When the news broke in August 2022 that Fernando Tatís Jr. had tested positive for an anabolic steroid (via ESPN), which he claimed he had been using to treat ringworm, the trajectory of his superstardom took a massive setback. Already having missed the entire season to that point, Tatís did not see a major league field for the duration of the 2022 season and his public image became much more clouded.
In addition to the obvious negative implications of skirting the rules of the game, the positive test called into question, fairly or unfairly, all that Tatís had accomplished to that point in his career. Returning to the game after a full year off, Tatís was under the microscope at all times. If he struggled, people would point to the PEDs as the source of his prior success.
He was booed and mocked in opposing stadiums across the country. And Tatís had to endure all that while just trying to get used to playing baseball every day again while missing an entire season at the crucial developmental age of 23.
So given the circumstances, it's easy to see why Tatís' 2023 performance could have been expected to slack a bit, and why it's so important he returns to his prior standard in 2024. The stench of his drug suspension can only be truly removed if he plays as well or better as he did beforehand, and with the benefit of a normal offseason, joining the Padres from day one this time around, Tatís seems much more mentally prepared to handle the weight of his all-world expectations in 2024.
Fernando Tatís Jr. needs to hit more in 2024
The obvious number one disappointment of Tatís' return to MLB in 2023 was his offensive production. He was still an above-average major league hitter, but far less so than in his breakout years of 2020 and 2021.
Through his first 273 MLB games, Tatís piled up 81 home runs and a gaudy .965 OPS/160 OPS+. Those numbers dropped to 25 homers in 141 games in 2023, with a .770 OPS/113 OPS+. So in layman's terms, Tatís went from being 60% better than your average major league hitter, a bona-fide superstar, to just 13% better.
That type of performance isn't going to win you an MVP, though Tatís still managed a 14th-place finish in 2023. But there were signs that his process was still headed in the right direction, with an elite barrel rate and expected slugging percentage. And thus far in 2024, his .903 OPS/149 OPS+ are more in line with his early-career norms.
So if Tatís really is going to become an MVP as soon as 2024, he'll certainly need to prove last year was a blip on the offensive radar. But for all intents and purposes, he already looks poised to do just that.
Tatís moving to right field changed everything
It's often said that shortstop is the most valuable position on the diamond. But in the case of Fernando Tatís Jr., taking a player away from his natural position at shortstop may have just saved his career.
Tatís is a freak athlete with a rocket for an arm who just happened to be erratic as all heck at shortstop. It still had to be tempting for the Padres organization, who have already had three managers during Tatís' tenure, to keep him there and hope the tantalizing tools all came together. But they made the smart decision to permanently move him to the outfield, where he has exceeded all expectations.
You could make a real case that Tatís was the most valuable defensive player in all of baseball in 2023, which is inherently supported by the fact that he was voted the winner of the NL's Platinum Glove. He was in the 94th percentile of outs above average, the 99th percentile of outfield arm strength and racked up a reel of home run robberies and epic outfield assists that was unlike anything we'd ever seen before.
Tatís might not be the best baseball player in the league right now, but he truly is the best athlete. Now at a position that suits his skills perfectly, with the confidence to shine with the bat once again, he's on the path to skyrocketing his career to an entirely new dimension.
Follow Us
Subscribe