SAN DIEGO — How do you know Fernando Tatis Jr. is he back? Here is the answer:
In the bottom of the first inning of the Padres’ 9-3 loss to the Diamondbacks on Sunday at Petco Park, right-hander Scott McGough threw the pitch he wanted: A fastball just off the outside corner of the plate.
But here’s the thing about Tatis. When he’s in top shape – and Tatis is hitting .472 in June – that’s “his” pitching. That’s the perfect point about it. Tatis catches pitches on the outside half of the plate and uses his power to drive the ball where few hitters can.
This time, he sent McGough’s fastball a Statcast-projected distance of 410 feet through center field, with an exit velocity of 109.9 miles per hour.
“That’s definitely a sign,” Tatis said. “The game speaks for itself. When I’m doing that, I’m definitely doing some really good things at the plate.”
Tatis’ 12th home run of the season extended his hitting streak to 15 consecutive games, a personal record for the Dominican and the longest active string in baseball.
In the big picture, Tatis’ resurgence could be more important than the early June standings. As Tatis goes, so goes the Padres, it seems to be the case often. Lately, Tatis has put his early-season struggles behind him. How turned on are you right now?
“If I touch him, I’ll burn,” Venezuelan Luis Arraez joked earlier in the weekend. “It’s incredible. It’s something special. I’m excited for him, because he started a little slow, but he’s a professional, he’s a star. Just I needed to keep playing.”
It’s a radical change compared to where things were two weeks ago. After his eighth-inning home run in the Padres’ loss to the Yankees on May 25, Tatis opted not to do his trademark dance move around third base. It was the first time he set aside his signature dribbling motion since the 2020 season, which was played in empty stadiums. When asked afterward, Tatis simply said, “I’m not in that much ‘flavor’ right now.”
And it wasn’t. In May, Tatis posted a .725 OPS. That homer against New York was his third and last of the month. With his home run on Sunday, he has already matched that total in June. And yes, Tatis is back to doing her signature dance move, which she clearly feels good about.
Of course, some of the conservation about Tatis’s problems was always a bit exaggerated. The underlying numbers, mainly the quality of his contact, indicated that he was probably having bad luck. That luck was destined to change.
But with his numbers suffering, on May 24, Tatis’s average fell to .244 and his OPS to .736, a disconcerting figure for a player with his power. Tatis promised that things would change. He needed to make better swing decisions.
It wasn’t so much about being more patient. It was more about choosing the right throws to do damage with. He spent much of the first two months worrying about his mechanics, until he finally realized that he needed a change in his approach.
Two weeks later, Tatis appears to be the best version of himself again. Even his outs have been forceful. In the last two weeks, his 11 hits are the most in baseball, according to Statcast. So are his 32 hard hits (any hit ball with an exit velocity of 95 mph or more).
“Now it’s back to looking really easy for him,” explained Padres manager Mike Shildt. “He’s finding pitches that he can handle. His swing looks great. He is hitting the ball well and the ball is just jumping off his bat.”
Suddenly, as of June 10, Tatis has a .281/.359/.467 line. He once again looks like an All-Star worthy player. What has been missing most from a mostly solid Padres offense has been more power. Tatis is helping to change that significantly.
