SAN DIEGO -- As Fernando Tatis Jr. makes his early MVP case, he seems to be doing something spectacular on a nightly basis. One night it¡¯s with his bat. The next night it¡¯s with his legs.
On Sunday afternoon, it was his cannon of a right arm.
Tatis delivered one of the best throws of the season in the Padres¡¯ 4-2 loss to the Rays at Petco Park. He ranged to his left to catch Yandy D¨ªaz¡¯s sinking line drive in the seventh inning, as Jos¨¦ Caballero tagged from third base.
In an instant, Tatis adjusted his body in right field and delivered a perfect one-hop strike to the plate, tracked by Statcast at 96 mph. Catcher Mart¨ªn Maldonado applied the tag just ahead of Caballero¡¯s slide into the dish.
¡°Just get behind it, set my feet and be accurate -- there¡¯s not a lot of momentum going toward the line,¡± Tatis said. ¡°I fixed myself a little bit to make a good throw to the catcher. ¡ It¡¯s just being aware of your body and where the momentum¡¯s taking you.¡±
As the Padres¡¯ injuries have piled up, Tatis has been the steadying force in their lineup. He¡¯s hitting .346 with a 1.040 OPS and a team-leading eight home runs.
Meanwhile, he looks like himself again in right field. Tatis won the Platinum Glove Award in 2023 but spent most of the ¡¯24 season playing through a stress reaction in his right leg, which limited him defensively. This year, he looks like a Platinum Glover again, already worth 3 outs above average.
Tatis has spent the past week showing off his arm. He threw from the seat of his pants after a sliding catch in Houston last week and nearly doubled up a runner at first base. On Saturday he delivered the strongest throw of his career -- 102.9 mph on Curtis Mead¡¯s sacrifice fly.
This particular throw didn¡¯t have the velocity of Saturday¡¯s, and it wasn¡¯t as jaw-dropping as the one in Houston. But it had something those two didn¡¯t: Tatis got the out. And he did so despite all of his momentum carrying him toward the right-field stands as he made the catch.
¡°Elite athlete, elite body control,¡± Padres manager Mike Shildt said. ¡°To throw from that angle, to get turned, with that much accuracy and velocity -- it¡¯s really something.¡±
The Rays asked for the play at the plate to be reviewed, but the call on the field stood, with Maldonado appearing to get his glove to Caballero¡¯s left hand just in time.
It was Tatis¡¯ first outfield assist of the season -- because opponents have mostly stopped running on him. But with two outs in a one-run game, the situation called for Caballero to test Tatis.
Did Tatis ever ace that test.