The wait for his first home run since his suspension is finally over for Fernando Tatis Jr. The San Diego Padres star blasted his first homer of 2023 in the first inning of Saturday's matchup against the Arizona Diamondbacks on the road. It was certainly a meaningful one for the 24-year-old outfielder, who definitely missed the feeling of going deep in a big league game.

Fernando Tatis crushed that homer off of Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly, who had allowed just a total of one home run in his past four starts in the 2023 MLB regular season.

Hopefully for the Padres and Fernando Tatis Jr., that home run would signify the start of turning things around at the plate. In his first two games in 2023 — both in this series against the Diamondbacks — Tatis went 1-for-9 with three strikeouts and zero walks. In his first game back, he went 0-for-5 with a couple of strikeouts. It was to be expected, though, given the long absence of Tatis from Major League Baseball action. He returned to the big leagues after serving an 80-game suspension and dealing with a wrist injury that wiped out his entire 2022 MLB campaign.

In 2021, Fernando Tatis was among the best players in the majors, even making it to the All-Star Game. That season, he batted .282 with a .364 OBP and .611 SLG to go with 42 home runs and 97 RBI for the Padres. At just 24 years old, Tatis still has his career in front of him. He signed a massive 14-year deal with the Padres back in 2021 worth $340 million.