Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres drove in three runs and took away four against the Mets last night.
The San Diego Padres are used to seeing impressive things from Fernando Tatis Jr. on a regular basis, but last night against the New York Mets the right fielder took his game from impressive to amazing.
Tatis hit two home runs and stole a grand slam from Francisco Lindor as he led the Padres to a 5-2 win over the New York Mets, and Tatis said he actually enjoyed the defensive part more than the offense.
"Tough challenge," Tatis said after the 14th two-homer game of his career, according to an ESPN/AP report. "But robbery today was more fun."
Manager Craig Stammen has gotten used to seeing this sort of thing from the front office, but this year he’s getting a different view from the dugout.
“It’s up there as one of the most impactful [games] he’s had as a Padre, for sure,” said Stammen. “You look at how many runs he created and then how many runs he took away -- that’s a pretty big number.”
Padres starter Robbie Ray walked the bases loaded to set up Tatis’ catch, and he raised his arms in triumph as he put his glove on top of his head for a moment.
"It's amazing -- he's seriously one of the most athletic fielders I've ever seen," said Ray, who got his first win as a Padre. "What he's able to do out there, just to be able to be in that spot to make that catch, was incredible.
"I kind of blacked out in the moment. Just really cool. It was just an incredible play."
Tatis has been winning games with his speed as much as his power, and he also made some impressive plays at second base when he shifted to the infied when the Padres were shorthanded.
“He feels like he has so many tools in his tool bag that he can find a way to create some havoc or take away runs -- or do something good for the Padres in any aspect of the game,” Stammen said. “He can do that with his speed. He can do that with his defense. He can certainly do it with his bat.”
The home run robbery wasn’t new for Tatis, as AJ Cassavell of MLB.com pointed out in his folowup piece. Tatis took away four home runs in a span of 27 games at Petco Park last year, and earlier this season he took one away from Rafael Devers of the San Francisco Giants for the second time in two years.
Mets interim manager Andy Green did a solid job of summing up the perspective from the other dugout as well.
“It was impressive,” Green said after the game. “And annoying. The guy is really good.”
