Fernando Tatis Jr. is only 21 years old, but he’s already entering the conversation for best player in the National League. The San Diego Padres’ shortstop is following up his remarkable rookie season with a tremendous start to his sophomore campaign.
On Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park, Tatis hit his fourth home run of the season, and it was an absolute bomb. Tatis sent a Ross Stripling offering 430 feet — with an exit velocity of 112.1 mph; the hardest-hit homer of his career — and bat-flipped the heck out of it.
TO THE MOON.@tatis_jr 🌖 #FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/mxyaz7AbdT
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 6, 2020
The future of baseball, folks 🤩@tatis_jr | #FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/42ACt5AO79
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) August 6, 2020
That's gas. pic.twitter.com/7PTRPHzoXd
— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2020
Fernando Tatis Jr.'s HR had a 112.1 mph exit velocity, his hardest-hit home run of his career.
It went 430 ft, his 5th-longest homer of his young career. pic.twitter.com/xR1NqjIVYt
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 6, 2020
Tatis now has a .294/.400/.647 slash line on the season, and he has already been worth 1.0 WAR according to FanGraphs (behind only the San Francisco Giants’ Mike Mike Yastrzemski, who’s at 1.1 WAR). He should be considered one of the NL MVP favorites at the moment, and he’s the main reason why the Padres are on the rise.
