PHOENIX — It’s been 564 days since Fernando Tatis Jr. latter graced a baseball garden in a big league competition with fresh stakes. There are detectable considerations — given the season-long absence, the steroid-related suspense, the surgical procedures to each his wrist and shoulder — about whether or not he can recapture the famous person degree he up to now displayed.
No longer from Tatis, it seems that.
Moments prior to he would build his extremely expected debut on Thursday night time, the San Diego Padres‘ shortstop-turned-outfielder was once requested about his degree of self belief in getting again to who he was once. Tatis laughed.
“110 percent,” he mentioned.
Tatis, 24, was once inserted into the leadoff spot for the Padres’ form opener in opposition to the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks from Chase Ground in Phoenix, the place he was once adopted, respectively, through Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts, making up one of the wretched foursomes in contemporary reminiscence. Padres supervisor Bob Melvin wrote out the lineup and right away texted it to Tatis.
“You’ve got the green light,” he mentioned. “You’re leading off.”
Tatis hadn’t performed since 2021, a season that started with a 14-year, $340 million extension and ended with a third-place end in Nationwide League MVP vote casting. The occasions that adopted modified all of the trajectory of his blossoming occupation. It all started with a motorbike strike in December 2021, date Primary League Baseball was once in an owner-imposed lockout that avoided groups from speaking with their gamers. Tatis upcoming arrived to spring coaching with a wrist shock that might hold him out for lots of the upcoming 5 months. As he was once nearing a go back, Tatis examined sure for an anabolic steroid, Clostebol, triggering an 80-game suspense that saved him out for the extra of 2022 and the primary 20 video games of 2023.
Tatis believes he’s “more mature” within the wake of all that. Requested what he discovered from the enjoy, Tatis mentioned: “That this world goes around so many different ways. You gotta stay humble every time and just enjoy the moment, be grateful every single time. Just be happy.”
Tatis’ steroid suspense put him on a trail to struggle to earn again agree with along with his teammates and his bosses. He affirmative to go through the left shoulder surgical operation that the Padres had really useful a 12 months previous and likewise a 2nd cleanup of his injured left wrist; he maintained extra habitual touch with the group within the resulting months; and he was at paintings early, turning back San Diego for baseball actions in January and being some of the first to report back to the workforce’s spring coaching advanced in February. Melvin, who didn’t spend a lot occasion with Tatis right through his first season in 2022, discovered him “easy to manage.”
“You do some soul-searching during those times, and you realize how lucky you are to be a big league player,” Melvin mentioned. “And when you come back from something like that, you get humbled a little bit and appreciative. He’s been nothing but easy to deal with, easy to manage in spring training, and doing anything he has to do to help his team win. I think all the guys feel that.”
Tatis started spring coaching in an 0-for-16 stoop, next had 12 hits in his latter 26 at-bats. He next ruled a next stint with the Padres’ Triple-A associate in El Paso, Texas, hitting .515/.590/1.212 with seven house runs in 8 video games. The latter six of the ones got here in a stretch of 3 video games. The primary of the ones precipitated the pitcher who gave it up, Kade McClure, to name him a “cheater” on Twitter, a sign of the backlash Tatis will obtain upon his go back.
“That’s gonna come,” Tatis mentioned. “Everybody has freedom of expression in this country, and nothing I can do about it. I’m just gonna keep playing this game and enjoy every part of it.”
Tatis has no doubt gave the impression pleased as he has made his as far back as baseball. He has smiled regularly, has approached his unused place of proper garden with perceivable fondness — the kind he didn’t show when compelled to every so often play games there to bring to account for customery shoulder subluxations — and has celebrated along with his standard aptitude and swagger.
“Just being far for a period of time, it gave me time to realize how really blessed I am to be able to play this game at the level that I play it,” Tatis mentioned. “All the kids that are watching, the vibe they give me, that love they give me, it just feeds me every single time.”
Ahead of the occasions of 2022, Tatis was once seemed upon because the upcoming face of his recreation, securing main sponsorship trade in with Adidas and Gatorade and gracing the preserve of the frequent online game “MLB: The Show.” Through that time, he had change into the primary participant to mix no less than 80 house runs and 50 stolen bases inside his first 300 occupation video games. Tatis totaled 81 house runs and 52 stolen bases in 273 occupation video games, all prior to his twenty third birthday.
He nonetheless thinks that’s who he’s.
“It’s just me playing baseball,” Tatis mentioned. “It’s nothing different. It’s been the same way since Day 0, and it’s gonna keep being the same way.”
