The rolling curveball served to Fernando Tatis Jr. Tuesday night in Atlanta was as inviting as a Waffle House special slathered with butter and syrup.
There was much to like about how Tatis responded — and how the highest-upside Padre has perked up since getting a desperately needed recharge at the All-Star break.
Tatis stroked the thigh-high pitch rather than jumping out of his cleats.
Firm but fluid. Under control. On balance throughout.
The ball rocketed beyond the left-center field wall … and over dozens of seats, rolling onto the concourse to a man in a Braves cap.
It wasn’t very important that the drive, at an estimated 474 feet, was the longest in MLB this year.
This was a display of easy power, all the parts working together in perfect fashion, the bat whistling through at 80-plus mph.
The long-ball power is coming, and even at this late date, that’s exciting for everyone in Padres Land.
Tuesday’s homer was the right-hander’s third in five games since the All-Star break, giving him eight on the year and distancing the 27-year-old further from the worst home run drought of his career by far.
If three homers in five games isn’t a heater by Tatis’ standards, nor should it be dismissed. Tatis has been stacking good at-bats for some time now, enabling him to rap out a majors-best 73 hits since May 18 entering Wednesday’s game. Power, the hitting gurus tell us, is often the last element to materialize after other good stuff falls into place.
It’s coming now, and larger ramifications also must be considered. Tatis’ potential to go off will be part of A.J. Preller’s calculus as he weighs buy and sell prospects ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
It’s no surprise that Tatis appears refreshed by the All-Star break. The team’s grueling 17-game, 17-day stretch going into the reset seemed particularly hard for him, and he acknowledged as much. Several players played through illness at one point or another. Tatis looked exhausted after a few of the road games in which he started fast before losing some zip.
Without elaborating, he said he was definitely not at full strength. The whole 17-17 stretch, he said when it was done, had taxed him more than a little. Asked what he would do during the merciful All-Star break, he spoke in monotone:
“Rest. Sleep. Be far from humanity.”
San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. jogs around the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Atlanta Braves during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Advancing on Adrián
One other thing to enjoy about this Tatis hot streak: It has called attention to the amazing Padres career of Adrián González, the franchise’s all-time OPS leader who conquered the Petco Park monster.
With one more home run, Tatis will pull even with González for third on the club’s career list, behind Nate Colbert and leader Manny Machado.
González needed slightly fewer at-bats to amass his 161 homers with the Padres. The lefty homered every 18.48 at-bats, compared with one every 18.72 at-bats by Tatis heading into Wednesday.
González’s bat speed was nothing special. Rather, he anticipated pitches very well and squared them up often.
Where Petco Park of his era chewed up many hitters, particularly lefties, González overcame and posted an .888 OPS overall over the five seasons in San Diego.
“I look back at Adrian González and some of the numbers he put up here, and they really are remarkable,” Giants general manager Buster Posey, who went against several Padres teams of that era, said in March before a game in San Diego. “It definitely is more hitter-friendly now than back then.”
González, inspired by Phillies lefty slugger Ryan Howard, swung a longer and heavier bat at Petco Park that he said enabled him to drive outside pitches into the left-field seats.
Tatis is far more of a pull hitter and a much speedier runner, but his and González’s career offensive statistics with the Padres line up closely.
González, across his 799 Padres games from 2006 through 2010, hit 161 home runs with a .288 batting average, a .374 on-base rate, a .514 slug rate and an adjusted OPS that was 41% above the major league average.
Tatis went into his 772nd career game Wednesday with a .278 batting average, a .354 on-base rate, a .499 slug rate and an adjusted OPS that was 34% above the major league average.
Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres celebrate after Machado’s home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the second inning at Petco Park on Thursday, July 9, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Teen sensations
There’s another thing that links Tatis and González. Scouts bet big on their potential greatness when both players were teens.
Pacific Beach resident Orrin Freeman and other Marlins scouts became sold on González during his career at Eastlake High School, leading the team to draft him first overall at age 18. When Tatis was 16, White Sox scouts signed him for a $750,000 bonus. He was only 18 when Preller and scouts got him in a trade, sending pitcher James Shields to Chicago.
The Padres would love for Tatis to soon blow by González and, with No. 164, pass up Colbert, the 1970s-era slugger who didn’t allow San Diego Stadium’s 17-foot outfield wall to defeat him.
Machado’s club record of 216 home runs is out of reach this year. But if Tatis is indeed heating up, the team’s tepid summer might get a lot more interesting.