Padres News: Fernando Tatis Jr Just Needs to Trust the Process in the Outfield

Fernando Tatis Jr. is moving to a new position this season. Tatis was the Padres' shortstop in 2021, however, after getting hurt and then suspended — causing him to miss the 2022 season — he likely entered 2023 knowing he was going to lose that job to Ha-Seong Kim, who played it very well. Then, it got even more crowded. The Padres signed All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and confirmed he would be the one playing shortstop. That made Tatis' (and Kim's) 2023 position a little more unknown.

Kim has moved to second base, where he can continue his stellar infield play. However, that meant there was no room for Tatis in the infield, so he's been playing in the outfield.

While Tatis has played 24 career games at the big league level in the outfield, so far this season it's been...not a smooth transition to full-time play.

Tatis having some trouble in right field pic.twitter.com/Iptkne01Wu
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 2, 2023

However, even with these routine drops, his manager, Bob Melvin, told 97.3 The Fan that he still has a ton of confidence in his former shortstop moving to the outfield.

"There's gonna be plays like that for him," Melvin said. "You're gonna get frustrated, and then the next day you're probably going to make two plays that nobody else can make."

Padres manager Bob Melvin talks about Fernando Tatis Jr.'s missed catch in right field today.

Melvin: "There's gonna be plays like that for him...you're gonna get frustrated, and then the next day you're probably going to make two plays that nobody else can make." pic.twitter.com/WROitEMzzc
— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) March 2, 2023

It's nice to see Melvin continuing to have confidence in Tatis, but also at this point, he has no choice. There's literally no room in the infield for Tatis barring an injury, so he's going to have to make it work in the outfield.

Tatis is entering year three of his 14-year, $340 million contract, and with Bogaerts getting 11 years and $280 million of his own, Tatis is going to have to find a home in the outfield. The Padres will have to hope he can make it work.