Fernando Tatis Jr. Does Something He's Never Done in His Career on Thursday
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The San Diego Padres evened up their record at 1-1 on Thursday by closing out the Seoul Series with a 15-11 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in South Korea.
San Diego pounded out 17 hits in the victory and picked up five runs in the first-inning off of Yoshinobu Yamamoto. In the win, Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth, Luis Campusano, Tyler Wade and Jackson Merrill all had multi-hit games.
In the case of Tatis Jr., he went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. He also laced a single at nearly 117 mph, which is something he's never done before.
Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com on social media:
116.7 mph 1B! hardest-hit batted ball of Tatis’ career
The 25-year-old Tatis Jr. is primed for a big year now that he's fully healthy and has his PED suspension of 2022/2023 behind him.
An All-Star and a two-time Silver Slugger, Tatis Jr. is also a Gold and Platinum Glove winner.
He's coming off a year in which he hit .257 with 25 homers, 78 RBI and 29 stolen bases in 141 games. For his career, he's a .280 hitter with 106 homers and 81 stolen bases.
He figures to be at the center of what the Padres do in 2024, especially in the wake of the team losing Juan Soto this offseason.
San Diego will come back to the United States to prepare for traditional Opening Day, which is set for March 28.
The Friars will take on the division-rival San Francisco Giants that day.
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