Tatis' power outage is officially over after 2-HR, 4-hit masterpiece

SAN DIEGO -- What did it take for Fernando Tatis Jr. to get here?

From wondering when he would ever hit another home run … to the most prolific power hitter in the Majors during the second half?

“Three months of struggling,” Tatis said on Sunday afternoon.

Indeed, in Tatis’ eyes, those struggles were sort of the point. They’re how he came to be this version of himself again.

On Sunday afternoon, Tatis went 4-for-5 and homered twice as the Padres completed an emphatic sweep of the Twins with an 8-1 victory. He scorched four balls at 105 mph or harder. Tatis is now tied with Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong for the Major League lead with 12 home runs since the All-Star break, and he’s shown no signs of slowing down.

“Right mechanics, right approach at the right time,” Tatis said.

Yes, Tatis’ stance is more open. He’s lifting the ball and pulling the ball more than he did early in the season. He’s also attacking the game with the same childlike enthusiasm that he usually does when he’s at his best.

It’s all a bit chicken-or-the-egg. But Tatis insists that going through those struggles taught him something.

“It made me know myself better,” Tatis said. “To even put a bigger trust in myself and the ability that I have -- and building from there.”

It took until May 30 for Tatis to finally launch that first home run. At the time, it seemed improbable he’d ever get to this point. But Tatis is now hitting .290 with an .814 OPS. He has 17 home runs -- all of them within the span of the last three months.

The Padres are reaping the rewards. It’s no coincidence they’re playing their best baseball while Tatis is playing his. Over the past month, their 21-7 record is the best in the Majors. They’ve gone from the fringes of the Wild Card picture to sole possession of the final playoff spot in the National League, two games up on the Diamondbacks.

“He feels good in the box with his swing,” said manager Craig Stammen. “He feels good with what the hitting coaches’ game plan is giving him. … I think it’s freed Fernando up just to go be a baseball player, and use his natural talent to the best of his abilities.”

Tatis didn’t look like that version of himself at all in April and May. He was hitting the ball hard. But he was rarely pulling it. And when he did, he pulled it on the ground. Throughout those struggles, Tatis tinkered. In hindsight, he probably overtinkered.

But the Padres always insisted that the homers would come. The underlying numbers said they would. And, more than anything, this was Fernando Tatis Jr.

Now, the homers are coming in bunches. The two home run swings that Tatis took on Sunday afternoon were the best example yet of his turnaround.

In the third, Twins righty Bailey Ober threw him a hanging slider on the inner half. He turned on it and pulverized it off the Western Metal Building in left. A few innings later, Taylor Rogers threw him a slider at the knees. He elevated it just enough to drop it into the first row in left-center.

“He shows you, when he's healthy, why he's one of the best players in the game,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “Because there's not much he can't do. Going back to the catch last night, going to the two homers today -- he just changes the game in such an impactful way for them.”

It’s a credit to Tatis that the rest of his game didn’t slip, even when the homers dried up. He made himself a perfectly useful leadoff man by reaching base, then using his speed. He’s stolen 29 bags this season. He’s also been excellent in right field again.

Tatis is one of the game’s truly elite five-tool players. Except, for a few months, only four of those tools were working.

It took a while, but the power outage is over. Tatis has found that fifth tool again.

Walker Buehler, who started for the Padres on Sunday and pitched six innings of one-run ball, knows it well.

“You’re telling me,” Buehler said. “I think he has more homers off me than anyone in the world.”

(Technically, Pete Alonso also has four, but the point stands.)

“When he’s right, he’s one of the best players in the world,” Buehler continued. “And I don’t know if there’s anything else to say.”