The San Diego Padres aren’t in playoff contention anymore, but that doesn’t mean Fernando Tatis Jr. is finished making memories. Take Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers for example. Tatis came up during the fifth inning and did something rare against right-hander Tony Gonsolin: he hit a home run to the concourse area at Dodger Stadium.
Take a look:
It’s fair to write that ball was smoked.
According to Statcast, Tatis’ home run left the bat with an exit velocity of 116.6 mph and carried 467 feet. Believe it or not, this doesn’t register as his longest home run of the season, let alone his career. Back in June, Tatis hit a 477 foot home run against Kyle Freeland and the Colorado Rockies. Thursday’s shot does, however, qualify as his hardest struck ball of the season and his career, as judged by exit velocity.
Tatis entered the evening hitting .281/.366/.610 (167 OPS+) with 41 home runs, 95 runs batted in, and 25 stolen bases (on 29 tries). Baseball-Reference’s calculations have him being worth 6.5 Wins Above Replacement this season. Tatis had previously never been worth more than 4.2 WAR in a single season.
The Padres came into play on Thursday with a 78-80 record on the season, putting them 26 games back in the National League West. The Padres were also 10 losses back of the St. Louis Cardinals, the NL’s second wild card team. San Diego can blame a slew of pitching injuries for its disappointing season. The organization has already begun to make personnel changes internally, including to the scouting department, and it’s possible that the Padres will decide to make a managerial change, too.
One thing is for certain: Tatis, who signed a 14-year extension in February, won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
