Fernando Tatis Jr. had an absolutely dismal 2022. He missed the first half of the year following March surgery to repair a left wrist fracture sustained in an offseason motorcycle accident and then got popped for an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension just as he was preparing to return to the Padres’ active roster in August.
There were a couple of other setbacks along the way — shoulder surgery in September and a follow-up procedure on his wrist in October — but the 24-year-old does seem to be in a good place both physically and mentally as the opening of Spring Training draws near.
“I’m really excited,” Tatis told Kevin Acee and Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I feel like this is one of the years there’s gonna be more emotion and I’m definitely looking forward to it. … I feel like a different story could have been if I was on the field. I feel like that was a stab to the team. I was apart from them. It was the first time I ever felt that. I was really heartbroken. I’ve always been successful in this area and now for the first time, I really (messed) up. And I really felt that. … I know what people are gonna talk about out there and what people are gonna be talking about on the field. It depends on me — how I’m gonna approach it, how I’m gonna take it. And it’s gonna be up to me if I’m going to answer back.”
Tatis expects to be a full-go for spring workouts, and he anticipates being activated as soon as he is eligible to return from his PED suspension on April 20. For his newfound peace of mind and improving overall health, he credits diving into an underwater training program run by former Marine Raiders in the San Diego area. Tatis has been participating in these workouts with Joe Musgrove, who was one of the more vocal critics in the Padres’ own clubhouse back when the suspension news was first announced.
“He’s having to face something that he never has or never wanted to face,” Musgrove said of Tatis. “But he’s handling it really well. He’s been around Petco (Park) every day and the work ethic he’s putting in, he’s going to be ready. … Being the superstar and the face of baseball is a lot to take on. So he hasn’t put himself out there a ton in the past. And I feel like now you’re starting to see a little bit more of him open up.”
Tatis delivered a stellar .965 OPS with 81 home runs and 52 stolen bases across his first 273 major league games between 2019-2021. That works out to a 162-game average of 48 homers and 31 steals, to go along with 116 RBI and 125 runs scored. He landed a blockbuster 14-year, $340MM contract extension from San Diego almost exactly 23 months ago. Now he’s about ready again to live up to that high-dollar commitment and perhaps help the Padres claim the NL West crown for the first time since 2006.
Shoulder surgeries can permanently reduce a player’s capabilities, and the PED issue adds more confusion. What type? How long was he using them? He may burst out of the gate and still be an impact player, but we don’t know.
Really good to see this side of him a little more- seems like he had a bit of an ego in the past but it’s good to know he actually cares about the team ahead of himself
padresfan – When you’re that young and get that much attention and money, it’s easy to be immature and let it all go to your head.
Remember Machado scolding Tatis during a game? That right there is a reminder that age does matter.
He’s got a bit of the rich kid’s syndrome in him. He was born into wealth, his dad was a decent major league player for many years. He’s talented and a little bit spoiled. Hopefully these experiences help him grow up a little bit.
Actually, I briefly met him on a back field at White Sox camp. He stopped to talk with a couple guys and stayed to chat with fans and sign autographs. Couldn’t have been cooler or more humble.
Once the limelight hit, his demeanor in interviews started to change.
Tatis has the opportunity to be a positive role model for those who have made major mistakes in their lives. If he demonstrates that he can recover and returns as a reliable, productive player, he will be that role model.
He still is a huge role model, and that hasn’t changed.
Why don’t Astros players or other PED users get the same treatment?
As soon as one the Asterisks players says “I am sorry that we cheated, I apologize for cheating, and I understand why the teams we beat feel slighted” then I feel like they should be forgiven and it should be dropped. When they use excuses and deflections, then not so much.
Tatis did not steal a championship from anyone, because the Padres never won one with him.
Every single one of them has apologized multiple times.
No championship was stolen, as they were only doing what their competition was doing.
You forget AJ Hinch’s masterful management of the Stros’ pitching staff and Dave Robert’s mismanagement of the Dodgers pitching staff in the WS…. Which is a constant Dodgers’ post season theme.
Fernando’s going to get some hate on the road in 2023.
I can think of 340 million reasons why its deserved.
I think signing Nelson Cruz to guide him, be a father figure for him was HUGE even if Cruz doesn’t play much
Cruz? Another steroid user.
I am a big Tatis fan, but yeah, Nelson Cruz is not the guy to keep Tatis on the straight and narrow. The FO needs to assign someone to work with Tatis, to help him mature in his 20s, which all of us have to do.
Absolutely. Cruz got popped, then proceeded to go 6 straight seasons of 40 HR and 100 RBI. If anyone is going to help him get by a PED suspension and then bounce back, its him……
I hated the trade when Kenny made it.
Question for you. What does Kenny have on Jerry? I can’t believe he was ever hired let alone made GM then promoted.
Jerry’s wife is dead, so it can’t be extra-marital shennanigans. Do you think it could be that Kenny caught him hiding cash from the IRS and MLB?
I like SD to win division by default this year. It’s almost like dodgers are in this bizarre 1 year elitist rebuilding phase w 6 top 100 prospects ready for major league trial this year. And to make way – they had to let….all stars walk !? Crazy !
And both SD and LA are 1/2 when it comes to identifying talent. How could SD have any prospects left yet their system still has top end talent
Great drafting – Wood, Gasser, Abrams, and RH3 got them Hader and Soto. Merrill and Lesko have a chance to be great as well.
Snelling has perhaps most upside
The Dodgers actually have 7 in the top 100.
Making mistakes as a young man is normal. Owning them, learning from them, and being a better person due to them is what matters.
We’ll see. But this interview is a nice step in the right direction.
Fans don’t easily forget or forgive. See the Astros players. Personally I couldn’t care less and hope he has learned from it, but he’s going to hear some nasty stuff the rest of his career. Sucks because he seems like a good guy that made a mistake (like most of the people not including someone like Braun or ARod that took other people down with them).
I like that everyone is blaming his youth for his mistake and that he’s learned his lesson. He still is blaming a haircut giving him ringworm and the meds prompting a positive test. No accountability. Just say you cheated and that the current system encourages it. You saw $340 million in front of you and shot your shot. Grow up Peter Pan.
Agreed. I respect the players who owned up. Skirting the issue or blaming something or someone else is just annoying.
I genuinely have a hard time believing that there aren’t players who unintentionally take banned substances. I want to believe Tatis, and Mondesi also comes to mind since he even got a reduced suspension. There is almost certainly at least a couple who aren’t trying to cheat.
Regardless of the circumstances, he can’t change it and has had attitude issues in the past, so seeing some growth from the young, exciting face of baseball is great for the game.
My only problem with that is in this day and age why don’t a) teams insist that their players consult a team doctor before they take anything or b) players double check with a team doctor before taking anything.
Yeah there’s probably some unintentional things going on but to me that only means teams need to take a harder line in making sure the players check in with the team doctors.
Maybe he also didn’t intend to ride the motorcycle….
Saber, There was a lockout at the time that Tatis used clostebol so players could not be seen by a team doctor.
Have you been to the Dominican Republic? Motorcycles outnumber all other vehicles 4 or 5 to one.
No phones? Zoom meetings? These players are basically investments for teams. How are they not drilling the idea of running the idea of putting anything into their body by a team doc?
What about Cole putting substance on the ball ? Everyone knows it, but he’s never been “caught” by mlb. Should he own it and apologize too ?
Or are Major League Baseball players just like the rest of us ? They lie and cheat too. Accepting someone for who they are is always better than shaming them. Get w the timez
Dude, you gotta get your facts straight. Cole wasn’t the only pitcher using sticky stuff on balls while almost all pitchers were doing it. Nobody was “caught” bc MLB didn’t care about it until their recent crackdown. There was no prior enforcement and Cole and other pitchers had openly gave their opinions.
Try pitching when it is 40 degrees, windy and very dry and control the ball. Then do it when it is 98 degrees with very high humidity….or raining.
The HITTERS want the pitcher to have a good enough grip to know where it is going, much less the pitchers under certain circumstances. MLB needs to finally agree to an approved tack substance…until they do this is all barking about nothing.
There has been a way to improve grip during in a bag on the mound for as long as I have been watching games. Its called a rosin bag.
The other stuff Cole and others used was not to improve grip in changing weather. It was to cheat. To improve spin rates. To get more movement on their pitches. They even said so.
No hitter wants pitchers to gain an advantage by making their pitches even filthier.
So please don’t be an apologist for them.
People always assume others do what they do. I can’t forgive as easily as Big Whifa, as I don’t lie and cheat my way thru life. I hope the vast majority of MLB players are more like me, than him.
They aren’t. Baseball has a rich history of players breaking rules to get ahead. Once one player/team find a way to break the rules the rest of the league will follow shortly after. We are talking about the difference between generational wealth and living comfortably for a few years then having to get a real job. Many players will do what helps them achieve generational wealth and for many that means bending/breaking rules.
They changed the enforcement of the rules because of people like Cole.
Yes. He should apologize for cheating, but won’t.
He already had the $340 million. He didn’t use steroids to get the big contract.
People like you that would rather hate than deal with common sense won’t see that though.
Which is sad considering all the Yankees that cheated for years but were still cheered in the Bronx.
Who besides you says he didn’t use steroids to get the big contract?
Tatis and Bauer were two of my top 4 players on the planet. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. It’s hard to forgive or believe anything with Tatis. I thought he was a top 3 player in the league and it seems it all was a lie. I was constantly defending him as being better than Vlad. Its going be interesting to find out who he is really is as a player on the field.
You are not the only person on the planet who share something rather special with Tatis and Bauer.
Extra credit to you if Clevinger was also one of your Top 4.
It’s all fun and games until you get the infamous ringworm, from a haircut. Poor kid!
It’s odd that the author makes an assesment on Tatis’ mental health based on one interview. It’s a weird bit of editorializing.
I got the opposite from what tatis said “there’s going to be more emotion this season” is a red flag to me. Baseball is a very difficult game and the less emotional a player is – the more consistent they are bound to be. And emotional lows could end up in slumps at the plate.
Hey I thought there was no crying in baseball !!!!
based on one interview.
===========================
That’s what I was thinking about the comments. It’s one short interview. I can figure out the perfect thing to say. It’s kind of meaningless.
you mean today’s media, just another opinion.
He is one of those who should have never got the long term, big contract. Since he has it now, there is no incentive to change the behavior. I see this ending badly for the Pads.
Unless he said that’s he’s done riding dirt bikes, who cares?
The name Jim Lonborg pops into my mind under the category “Stupid Off-Field Accidents.”
Bumgarner
The stupid list is endless.
A few weeks before Lonborg’s ski trip, Denny McLain cost Detroit the 1967 pennant by having his foot stomped by a mob enforc…..er, kicked his garbage can when frightened by a raccoon.
Denny McLain was George Santos with a rising fast one.
Jim Lonborg hurt his knee skiing. Is skiing considered so dangerous to nullify a contract? Motorcycling can be dangerous especially to daredevils. However, many riders are safe riders. Mickey Lolich often rode one to Tiger stadium (I heard stories). However, getting injured trail riding is a certain, even for pro riders. Dick Allen wrecked his hand pushing his car out of a snow drift.
It wasn’t a dirt bike.
Without juice, what will his OPS be… .815?
No evidence of juice lol.
lol thats crazy. well see
Extending players after one or two seasons is the worst thing a team could do, no matter how well the player performed. Team control is 6-7 years at the major league level. Better off waiting just in case major injuries or PEDS
sorry my friend, your incorrect. that is the only way to extend them. these kids are getting 5-6 Million dollars to sign. they are already rich. they see the prices in free agency. if you don’t extend early, you don’t extend and they are gone in 6 years.
Between Tatis and his motorcycle wreck and McKinney of the Football Giants crushing a hand in an ATV accident, you have to wonder about the maturity of some highly paid pro athletes.
Agree – and it is not just immaturity. It’s recklessness and deceit as well. Do these teams do any due diligence prior to plunging $300 million?
Those kinds of restrictions are part of the standard contract that every player signs, from the elite free agents to the kids filling out the minor league clubs. I recall seeing Mike Trout grousing about how he can’t go skiing in the offseason because he might hurt himself.
I think there’s definitely a thrill seeking side of many professional athletes, with even more tragic consequences, like Fernandez and the speed boat and Halliday and the airplane. Drugs were involved in both of those tragedies.
Why would a bunch of money make someone mature ?
Tatis is in his early 20s. Give him a break. When I was in my early 20s I was doing drugs and getting friendly with your mom. I turned out okay. And yeah, you had to go through your own maturity issues as a result of my actions but you turned out a little curmudgeonly but okay.
And Chris Sale’s “bicycle accident” where he allegedly got flipped over his handlebars after hitting a groove in the pavement. No witnesses, except Bloom very conveniently saw Sale about twenty minutes later to confirm the injury. I wonder what really happened?
Both Tatis and Sale are idiots with superman complexes?
He’s massively talented and still may end up being a cornerstone of that franchise. Maybe the silver lining in his lost last season will be a healthy humbling. Most elite athletes respond to being challenged. I’m not gonna read much into interviews. How he handles himself this season will say it all.
Hopefully doesn’t get ringworm again.
Just a matter of time before Padres move on from him! He seems to have the BARROID BONDS mentality!
My guess is they move on from him in 2035.
This is a whole lot of fuss over a player with a grand total of 273 games played in his career. Yeah he has played well, but let’s take it down a couple notches. This guy is not Rafael Palmeiro getting busted. Heck, he isn’t even Ryan Braun getting busted.
Padres don’t trust Tatis at this point and had to spend a fortune on Bogaerts. Can’t have both along with Machado on their payroll.
Maybe the Padres can trade Tatis to the Angels for Otani after the All-star break to shore up their starting pitching and get a big LH bat to help Soto in the middle of their lineup.
Otani,Darvish and Musgrove looks like a World Series winning rotation.
Machado is walking after this season so he’ll be off the books
Not matter how talented a player is, if you don’t have the smarts to use it, you’re going to spend more time hurt or ineligible than playing during your “career.” Something tells me this guy falls in the not too smart category. Grow up.
Indian fan? Which team is that? Or are you talking about a certain indigenous nation that you like? I am confused.
He’s still a kid. Compare a 30-year-old Manny Machado to that young hothead who once started a brawl because Josh Donaldson tagged him out too hard.
@Dr Dan – that was a pretty special series for Machado – two days later he “accidentally” let go off his bat – aiming at – IIIRC – Fernando Abad. He got closer to the 3rd base umpire. Alberto Callaspo jumped like a scalded cat.
I thought Machado was a prized tool but now (along side Bryce Harper) I rather like to watch both of them play…
This could be the best season in Padres history if they can stay healthy. Those fans deserve some long awaited success. Real long.
Hahahahahahaha
I’m sure there are commentators here using PEDs to improve the quality of their comments.
Doubtful, I don’t see any home runs in here.
Yeah well, the injuries are one thing, but the PED suspension makes his career worthless now no matter what he does.
His career is still worth the $340 million minus the million or so he is losing because of the v suspension. I’m sure he will sleep just fine at night.
Man Yankee fans upset as hell that Hicks is their starting LF
Sure, the surgeries and all that are a concern. But, to me, the biggest unknown is how long had he been using PEDs? If it was just to aid in recovery, then he might go back to being a great player. But if he’d been using them for years, then he’s a fraud. Maybe we’ll find out. I say “maybe”: even though I doubt he’d go back to PEDs after getting popped, but who knows?
LOL. In other words, he’s damned if he uses and damned if he doesn’t in your eyes.
If he had been taking them before, he would have been popped. My thought is he knew he screwed up with the wrist thing and was trying to get back out faster. People act like he was injecting some junk for years or something like that. He applied a cream he thought would make him heal faster so he could get back out there. In doing so he dug himself an even deeper hole. I think he will do great this year no matter how many cruel slurs opposing fans hurl at him.
When you figure that he was with chi white Sox first then get traded for James shield which work out for padres more.
Juicer with piss poor attitude won’t change.
” Being the superstar and the face of baseball…”
Oh PLEASE. The face of baseball?? Maybe to SOME of the padre fans but not to the rest of the country outside of san diego
Im in Florida and he was pretty much the face of baseball.
He had national ads on TV and was being pushed by MLB as the next face of baseball. They had segments on MLB Today and other MLB Network shows about that subject.
If you missed that, you are not much of a baseball fan.
There’s a big difference (to me, anyway) between being the face of baseball – you know, the guy who pops to mind when you mention MLB to a current fan – and a guy the MLB was desperately trying to market and whose appeal never really caught on. He was on the cover of the new MLB video game, etc, but it wasn’t necessarily by popular demand, it was because he was who the MLB execs thought they could market. And they (har har) largely took a swing and missed. (Thank you, I’ll be here all day)
If you asked pretty much any MLB fan though who the face of todays MLB is, you’d be hardpressed to find someone who didn’t say it was Shohei Ohtani. Tatis never held that sort of national ‘face’ consensus. Not even close
He had the 2nd highest amount of sponsorship money and a top 3 jersey in 2021. As you said he was on the cover of a game which is not decided by MLB, it’s decided by who is the most popular player. He caught on big time.
If you asked baseball fans today who is the face of baseball they would say Judge, not Ohtani.
That might not be the case if Tatis had not missed a season and got busted for steroids.
Mr. Met has a face of baseball. Mr. Red too.
He broke the rules. He’s paying for it and will have a shadow cast over his career for its entirety. The best and only thing he could do is go out and play to the best of his ability. The rules of the game of baseball has never been one fairness and its reputation never with a blemish. As fans, we have a right to voice our opinions about every player on every team, past or present. As a lifelong Padres fan, I’ve heard more than my share. Hell I’ve critiqued them at every mistake, loss and trade that hasn’t been to my liking. In the end, I’ll still buy merchandise and tickets and cheer them on…time heals all except trading away Robbie Alomar, that one still hurts.
So now that we’ve exhausted the health care issues, where does he play? Center field, a glamour position worthy of a superstar? Or a corner outfield spot, where he is probably better suited but more often out of the spotlight?
I think they said he will play in RF and Soto will move to LF.
Time will tell whether or not Tatis has learned his lesson. Before Tatis takes the field 04/20/2023 he needs to publicly apologize to the team and fans.
Tatis’ talent and potential is without question but IMO his extension after his injury plagued rookie year was the most mindless in MLB history.
His rookie season was 2019. He signed the contract in 2021.
Am I the only Padres fan truly concerned about this season? Not enough pitching.
If I was a Padres fan I would be very concerned about the lack of pitching depth. IIRC it was a lack of pitching depth that did in their 2021 season. I seem to remember them having to start Arrieta and Velazquez at the end of that season.
Umm… You are a Padres fan. And not just any Padres fan… *wink*
Ok harambe. What happened, did you get banned again?
When are you going to admit that you were wrong about Luis Campusano’s marijuana charges being reduced to a misdemeanor in January 2021 and Sam Blum saying that the Padres offered CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, Luis Campusano, Reiss Knehr, and Joshua Mears for Ohtani and Spencer Strider being credited with two full years of service time for 2022 and stop going into hiding any time someone calls you on anything?
I’d be concerned at this point. Have to wonder if a trade is in the works next two weeks.
You can run but you can’t hide. You hit busted. Let’s see how it feels when he gets the treatment all the other cheats did.
I hate to say it but cheaters always win in sports. Money talks and the risk IS worth the reward if you can get that big check before getting caught. Yea, you lose a season but you also have generational wealth. PEDs build a baseline strength, so if you build up you can quit use and have a stronger baseline than pre-PED use. All the dudes in the 90s are sitting on mountains of cash. That’s all the evidence I need to prove cheaters will win in the game of baseball. Tatis got the $340M and its most likely due to doing PEDs thus upping his performance to get that deal.
He got the money before using the steroids.
Did Fernando Tatis Juicer hit the juice before grabbing the green?
This we will never know.
If only MLB tested players for PEDs so they would know exactly when they start juicing. Oh wait…
Wishing is one thing, but I’m just glad MLB has a time machine, to go back and test juicers when they first started juicing, often long before they signed with an MLB team. Oh wait…
Tatis has been tested for PEDs 7-10 times by MLB. He passed all of them until his last one near the end of last year. That gives us a pretty good idea of when he started juicing doesn’t it?
Holy smokes. I waited all day to open this thread. I should have left it closed.
Tatis is a sophisticated adult with a plethora of worldly experience. He is judged not by his words, but his actions. So far his actions indicate he is undoubtedly a wanker.
No sympathy for Tatis. He’s a good example how a lot of people in society are with their Instagram, TikTok, & he’s also dishonest He didn’t put the team first, it was all about him.
You forget how DYNAMIC a player he was. With the Signing Of CRUZ he has a Role Model to help to keep him on the Straight and Narrow Path. Don’t be Surprised if the Friars offer Nelson a Front Office Position when his playing days are over.
I’d say Nellie Cruz is an apt role model for Fernando Tatis Juicer, knowing he too got popped for PEDs.
I am certain Tatis Jr will be out of baseball long before that contract term.
Tatis has guaranteed money, he has no reason to cheat. He has enough talent to play the next ten years even if he only gives 90%. Tatis just needs to mature and find the right friends. I hope he succeeds.
He DID cheat. This is not speculation. He is not an honest guy.
Fernando Tatis Juicer needs to admit cheating, before he can “move on.”
The “face of baseball” Man, get that $h!t out of here! THAT is preposterous!
Just wait until the domestic violence allegations come to light. Items like that can only be kept under wraps for so long.