1 strike away from 5-K day, Tatis reverses fortune -- and displays maturity

BOSTON -- Fernando Tatis Jr. has never struck out five times in a big league baseball game -- but he found himself on the brink at a frigid Fenway Park on Saturday night.

Tatis punched out in each of his first four at-bats, lowering his early-season batting average to .172. He came to the plate in a tie game in the ninth inning, then quickly found himself in a 1-2 count against vaunted Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman. The Padres had two outs and nobody aboard -- and, only moments before, had relinquished a late lead.

So Tatis got to work. He fouled off a fastball at the top of the zone. He laid off a splitter. Then, he got the belt-high fastball he was looking for.

“I always know,” Tatis said, “I just need one swing to change the game.”

Tatis laced the ball over the head of Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela and cruised into second base with a double. A few moments later, he was sliding safely into home plate with the go-ahead run on Ramón Laureano’s RBI single. A few moments after that, he was celebrating a tense 3-2 Padres victory.

“That’s the best part of baseball,” Tatis said. “You just never know. That’s why there’s 27 outs to be played.”

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Tatis admitted that it took him some time to learn that. He is an emotional player in a sport that generally doesn’t reward wild swings of emotion. When it’s going good with Tatis, it’s usually going very good. When it’s going poorly -- because of the demonstrative type of player and personality he is -- it can often feel like it’s going very poorly.

Tatis has worked to change that.

“It’s not easy,” Tatis said. “It’s something I learned a long time ago -- learned how to stick with a process. I had to learn how to mature, how to stay in the game, stay locked in, play defense, change the game playing defense. You’ve just got to stay in the game, not only for yourself, but for the rest of the team, out there competing.”

Despite his struggles on offense, Tatis’ defense did change the game on Saturday. He made a brilliant running catch in the right-center-field gap to rob Willson Contreras of extra bases in the bottom of the sixth inning. Statcast judged the catch probability at only 15% -- the type of play a two-time Platinum Glove Award winner makes.

And, sure, there was already one out and nobody on base. The Padres might have escaped the threat anyway. But Tatis’ catch allowed starter Randy Vásquez to stay in the game and complete the sixth, and it helped preserve the San Diego bullpen. To say nothing for the runs it might have prevented.

“He can impact the game in many different ways,” said manager Craig Stammen. “He’s not taking his at-bats out to right field. He’s still locked in and knows that he can make a game-saving play anywhere that he is on the field.”

Nonetheless, it can often feel like as Tatis goes, so goes this Padres offense. It’s probably no coincidence that the San Diego bats have started slowly on the whole. They’ve scored three runs or fewer in seven of their first eight games.

But that offense showed signs of life even before Tatis’ ninth-inning breakout on Saturday. A righty-heavy Padres lineup worked Red Sox starter Connelly Early and racked up seven hits and five walks in total. Tatis made sure they had something to show for it.

“In the cold, they’ve got home-field advantage, their best pitcher on the mound,” Tatis said. “But you just go out there and trust yourself, trust the hard work. It’s just a matter of time before it shows up.”