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Watch Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr Finally Hit First Home Run of 2026

The drought is over.
Noah Camras|
May 29, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; San Diego Padres second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) is congratulated by third baseman Manny MacHado (13) after scoring a run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images
May 29, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; San Diego Padres second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) is congratulated by third baseman Manny MacHado (13) after scoring a run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images | Brad Mills-Imagn Images

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San Diego Padres

The drought is over. And there was no doubt about this one.

San Diego Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. has finally hit his first home run of the 2026 season.

In the top of the fifth inning of Saturday's game against the Washington Nationals, Tatis crushed a 451-foot home run to deep left field. He hit it 114 mph off the bat with a launch angle of 24 degrees. It would have been a home run in all 30 ballparks.

Tatis knew it right away, dropping his bat and looking up to the sky after he hit it before enjoying his time around the bases. He was greeted by his teammates in the dugout for a big celebration.

It took Tatis 239 plate appearances and 208 at-bats to finally leave the yard in 2026. It was by far the longest home run drought in his seven-year career.

Now, it's finally over.

Tatis has been heating up as of late, recording multi-hit games in four of his last five contests entering Saturday. It appeared that he was getting closer and closer to ending this season-long drought.

Finally, in his 56th game of the year, Tatis did it, while also recording his fifth multi-hit game in his last six contests.

Earlier this month, while Tatis was still struggling at the plate, manager Craig Stammen had a message for his superstar hitter.

“You look at the evidence, he's going to hit a home run at some point,” Stammen said in early May. “The hard part is not worrying about or thinking about that every single time he comes to the plate. I think that's the hardest part for him… He wants to hit one too just as much as anybody. The conversation we're trying to have with him and he's having with us is how can you impact the game in any way outside of hitting a home run?

“Try to keep your mind off of it so that when you get your pitch and you make a good swing on it, maybe it goes out."

He added: "The home runs are going to come."

While it took Tatis 239 plate appearances to go yard in 2026, it would be shocking if it took him that long to hit his second.

It wouldn't be surprising to see Tatis go on a home run tear in the coming weeks now that he's gotten the first one out of the way.

What a great development that would be for the Padres.

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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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