Padres' Fernando Tatis Accomplishes Feat That's Never Been Done in MLB History

It was not an easy start to the year for San Diego Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., but one would not know it by the nuclear summer he has been having and the history he has recently accomplished.

The three-time All-Star — who led the National League with 42 home runs in 2021 — went 55 games without a long ball to start off 2026. Though he was hitting above league-average at .268, his slugging percentage of .307 and OPS of .652 were putting him down a slippery slope for those to be career-low marks.

Additionally, the Padres went 31-24 during that span and were sitting 4.5 games back from first place: far from where anyone around the organization expected them to be this past spring.

Finally, on May 30, Tatis went yard. It was a towering 451-foot home run that left his bat at 114 mph. From there, Tatis went on a tear, hitting .287/.333/.455 with an OPS of .788 until the All-Star break.

Even though Tatis was finding his footing again, the Padres were still two games under .500 at the Midsummer Classic. It was here that Tatis found another gear and not only got back to familiar form, but started to exceed all expectations.

Over the course of the second half of the season, Tatis is clobbering the baseball with a .301/.379/.612 slash line and a .991 OPS. In these past 55 games, he has 18 home runs (now 23 total) and 43 RBIs as the Padres are now seven wins or Arizona Diamondbacks losses away from locking up a wild-card spot.

The slugger became the first player in MLB history to hit 23 home runs in a 94-game span after starting with no home runs through the first 55.

Tatis spoke recently about how the only constant for him this season has been the work in the batter's box to get back to familiar form.

“I just put a lot of work, and I work right,” he said, via The San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee. “So either way — if it happened or it did not happen — I was glad with my process because I know I have put all the work. I have done all the right homework, I have taken care of my body, and I have been really dedicated with it. So my process. That’s where I take a lot of pride in, and then the results, if the baseball gods want me there, with my talent, I know I have a pretty good chance.”

Admittedly, Tatis also pointed out his $340 million contract as being a factor as well. As the eighth-highest paid player in baseball, it became a source of dedication and why he worked (and is still working) as hard as he has.

“That’s why I work so hard,” Tatis said. “That’s why I keep showing up every single day, looking forward to performing the right way. And that’s why all the dedication, the hard work, because at the end of the day you want to do good. And this organization trusts me — you know, by long years — that I was going to do good. So I don’t take that for granted.”

Tatis is without a doubt one of the most talented players in baseball. Defensively (including 48 games as a second baseman later in the season) he has ranked in the 88th percentile in terms of Outs Above Average and his arm strength grades out in the 94th percentile.

Even though the home runs and extra base hits weren't quite there at the start of the year, Tatis was still consistently hitting the ball among the hardest in the league. He has a hard-hit percentage (batted balls 95 mph or over) of 53.8%, good for the 97th percentile in baseball.

Tatis, as well as the rest of his team, appear to be heating up at the perfect time with October right around the corner. Only time will tell if his miraculous turnaround will translate to a deep postseason run, or be lost to regular season purgatory.

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