ATLANTA -- Remember all that time we spent wondering when Fernando Tatis Jr. would hit his first home run?
Feels like ancient history. Tatis is hitting homers in bunches now. And on Tuesday night, he hit the longest home run in the Majors this season -- a whopping Statcast-projected 474 feet to the very back of the left-center-field grandstand at Truist Park.
In the eighth inning of the Padres’ 8-3 victory over the Braves, Tatis got a hanging slider from Braves reliever JR Ritchie and demolished it for his third home run in the past four games and his eighth of the season.
“Beautiful to feel that, to see that off the bat,” Tatis said.
It was a no-doubter, and at 474 feet, it was one foot longer than a home run last month by Braves catcher Drake Baldwin -- who, from behind the plate, might’ve had the best view of Tatis’ blast.
By now, Tatis’ early-season struggles are a thing of the past. He’s been arguably the Padres’ best hitter for most of the past two months, even if his power hadn’t entirely come around.
It’s clearly still in there. The ball came off Tatis' bat at 111.0 mph, with 82.2 mph bat speed. It also marked the second-longest homer of Tatis’ career, three feet behind his 477-foot blast at Coors Field on June 16, 2021.
“This one feels better,” he said. “The other one was more Colorado air.”
Although Tatis clarified that he’s not sure if it’s his all-time most prodigious home run. He did hit one out of Dodger Stadium entirely in September 2021.
“Dodger Stadium was more special,” he added. “Because hitting it over a stadium is just crazy.”
Hard to argue with that logic. Still, this was a majestic blast that served to leave no doubt: Fernando Tatis Jr. is back. He finished 3-for-5 with a double to go along with his home run. Over the past two months (since May 22), Tatis is hitting .325 with an .891 OPS.
So much was made of Tatis’ early struggles. But whatever issues the Padres have gone through lately on offense, Tatis has hardly been a part of them. If anything, his recent surge makes you wonder how he went so long without a homer in the first place. (He didn’t hit his first of the season until May 30 in Washington.)
“If you can hit ‘em that far, why can’t you just get the one that just scrapes over the wall?” manager Craig Stammen said. “Easier said than done in Major League Baseball.”
Stammen later continued:
“We know Fernando Tatis Jr. is one of the most talented baseball players in the whole entire world. But that doesn’t mean he’s slump-proof. Everybody is going to go through tough times. He handled that tough time. And he has come out of that, I think, an even better player than he was before.”
On the whole, the Padres’ offense has largely struggled this season. San Diego ranks 27th in OPS (.688) and 26th in runs (415) across the Majors. But for the past two months Tatis has done his part. And recently, the team’s other struggling superstars have joined him.
Manny Machado went deep twice on Tuesday. Jackson Merrill homered and had two hits as well. It marked the first time all three had homered in the same game this season.
“That’s why we got paid,” Tatis said. “That’s what we’re here for. That’s what everybody expects from us. That’s what we should be doing. That’s what we’re here for -- as simple as that.”
If the Padres get that trio going simultaneously, it would go a long way toward solidifying their status as contenders ahead of the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline.