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Inside The Padres

Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. Sends Message to Baseball World After Otherworldly Performance

He had one of the great performances in recent memory.
Noah Camras|
Aug 18, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the New York Mets during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Aug 18, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the New York Mets during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres' 5-2 win over the New York Mets on Tuesday will likely go down as one of the greatest games of Fernando Tatis Jr.'s career.

Yes, he's just 27 years old, but it's difficult to imagine him having many more games as impactful as the one he had on Tuesday night at Citi Field.

On the first pitch of the game, Tatis unloaded a 452-foot home run to left field.

Then, in the bottom of the second inning, the right fielder potentially saved the game with an unbelievable catch that took away a grand slam.

A few innings later in the top of the fifth, Tatis went yard again, putting an exclamation mark on an out-of-this-world performance.

After the game, he took to Twitter to send a simple message to the baseball world in the form of a gif with four words: "Are you not entertained?"

His manager had a few more than four words to share about the performance after the game.

“It’s up there as one of the most impactful [games] he’s had as a Padre, for sure,” manager Craig Stammen said. “You look at how many runs he created and then how many runs he took away. That’s a pretty big number. They talk about plus-minus in the NBA and hockey. That was a big plus-minus game for Tatis tonight.”

Tatis was responsible for three runs, and took away four. He showed why is a superstar in this game, both with his Silver Slugger bat and Platinum Glove in the outfield.

“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.”

Tatis is a two-time Platinum Glove award winner, and has made plenty of jaw-dropping catches in the outfield.

This one, however, was as special as they come.

“I would say top one,” Tatis said when asked to rank this among his defensive plays. “Not because of the play itself. Just because of the situation, where we're at. Our guy's grinding on the mound, trying to make pitches. Just taking off a grand slam right there — that's a game-changer.”

The Padres' win moved them to 68-59 on the year, and they are now two games up on the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final wild-card spot in the National League.

As for Tatis, he's quietly putting together a spectacular season after his early-season struggles, now hitting .280 with 15 home runs, 60 RBIs, 28 stolen bases and an OPS of .785.

Well, it's not so quiet anymore.

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Noah Camras
NOAH CAMRAS

Noah Camras graduated from the University of Southern California in 2022 with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in sports media studies. He was born and raised in Los Angeles and has extensively covered Southern California sports in his career. Noah is the publisher of Padres on SI after contributing as a writer and editor over the last three years.

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