Good morning,

In the midst of a stretch in which the Padres are consistently playing better than they have all season, a certain player is reminding us why he got a “statue contract.”

Fernando Tatis Jr. is not the reason the Padres routed the Brewers 11-2 and moved into a tie for the final wild-card spot last night.

No, that was a game filled with wondrous and weird moments and was another example of the kind of all-around team win the Padres were practically incapable of putting together on even a semi-regular basis until recently and now are stacking like a good team does.

You can read in Jeff Sanders’ game story (here) about Walker Buehler’s quality start and the big lead afforded him when Luis Rengifo paid back his former team with a grand slam in the second inning.

Tatis helped with a solo home run in the fourth inning, and as we have discussed quite a bit lately, his contribution is a crucial component of the team’s success over the past three-plus weeks.

But we have the rest of this newsletter and 41 more games to have a finite focus.

Let’s take a few minutes to step back and appreciate what Tatis’ home run represents.

It was the 164th of his career, breaking a tie with Nate Colbert for second most in team history.

He trails only Manny Machado, who broke Colbert’s 55-year-old team record on Sept. 10, 2024, and has 217 home runs with the Padres.

Machado and Tatis played their first game for the Padres on the same day (March 28, 2019). They almost immediately transformed what the organization and its fans thought about the team’s present and its possibilities. And in the eight years since, they have played the biggest roles in making the Padres an international brand and a perennial contender.

“I think when A.J. (Preller) signed them, that’s what he probably envisioned, is those guys having long-term success in San Diego and being at the top of that home run list,” said Padres manager Craig Stammen, who was a relief pitcher for the team from 2017 through ‘22. “Tatis keeps getting better, Manny keeps aging really well and getting better. And those guys have carried this franchise for a long time and turned it into, you know, where there were 25,000 fans showing up a night to now there’s 40,000 fans every night. And those two guys are a big part of that.”

Tatis seemed to appreciate what it all meant.

“It’s just special,” he said. “Hopefully people don’t take it for granted and people really embrace what we have done over here and what we’re planning on doing for hopefully the next decade. … It’s just a beautiful thing. We’ve got nine or eight more years of this, you know. But who’s counting? But man, that speaks volume — what happened since we got here, and the way we go about our business. The way we love this game, how we just put everything on — our body, dedication, work ethic (to) just go out there and show consistency and be at the top of the franchise that gives us opportunity. It’s just off the chart.”

Tatis’ 14-year, $340 million contract, the eighth largest in MLB history, runs through 2034. Machado’s 11-year, $350 million contract, the sixth largest, runs through 2033.

They are both playing for second place on most franchise lists besides home runs. Presuming they finish their contracts, here is a look at the categories in which they will likely finish 2-3 behind Tony Gwynn and what place they are currently in:

Another moment

It wasn’t as savage as punishing a pitcher for two quick pitches or as significant as putting his team ahead by sending a ball to the second deck of the Western Metal building.

But Tatis’ homer last night provided another illustration of the change that has occurred as he has gotten back to being the player we knew for so many years.

From time to time, when a star player is due up first in an inning, the production crew at Petco Park will cue up a montage of that player’s past successes. They are really cool videos.

But as the team’s stars struggled throughout the season, the videos also seemed to be a sad reminder of how poorly things were going. Often early in the season, a bunch of Tatis home runs and defensive plays on the video board were followed by a quick groundout on the field.

But he stepped to the plate after such a video before the bottom of the fourth inning last night and hit the first pitch he saw over the wall in right field.

Petco Park erupted.

Fernando Tatis Jr. has 4 homers in his last 7 games 😎 pic.twitter.com/J7ia4Csf69

— MLB (@MLB) August 12, 2026

“I feel like it just comes with my human nature of playing baseball,” Tatis said.

Tatis is even back to giving those sensational quotes in his second language, which he makes sound more romantic than the rest of us. And I think I have covered him long enough to be qualified to clarify the above quote.

He was saying he was born for such moments.

More to go

The Padres have won four straight and 14 of 18 and last night pulled even with the Diamondbacks and Phillies.

Right now, it feels better to be them than the Phillies, who have lost 12 of their past 20 games.

But remember, the Phillies won the season series against the Padres. That means the Padres would lose a tiebreaker if they finished with identical records.

“We can’t control what those guys do,” Stammen said. “We’re done playing the Phillies. We’ve still got some games against the Diamondbacks at the very end of the season. I’m going to anticipate those mattering quite a bit. But until then, all we can do is play our game and control our destiny, which is the stock answer, but it’s the truth too. I like the way that we’re playing, and I think if we keep playing like this, our chances are good. We can’t control how well those guys play, though.”

Tough outs

Last night’s game took a bad turn on the Brewers when the Padres scored all five of their second-inning runs with two outs.

The Padres have done that quite a lot. Nearly 42% of their runs have come with two outs, the second-highest rate in the majors. Their .251 batting average with two outs is third best.

But even having a chance to battle with two outs in this case took the Brewers botching a chance at something rare and Tatis doing something rare to have the third out overturned.

After Jackson Merrill and Austin Hays began the inning with singles, Luis Campusano hit a grounder to third that was a tailor-made triple play as much as any grounder could be.

“It had a chance,” Campusano said. “Definitely had a chance.”

But Brewers second baseman Jihwan Bae stretched out to receive David Hamilton’s throw almost as if he were a first baseman, which negated any shot at a triple play because Bae wasn’t going to be able to make the relay to first even if he had not dropped Hamilton’s low throw.

A triple play is not something to ever be assumed. There has been one in the major leagues this season. But a good throw and relay almost certainly would have got Campusano at first base, as this video attests:

Here’s the high home view of the fateful fielder’s choice in the second inning of Brewers-Padres. With a better throw to second and a clean turn, this had triple play written all over it. pic.twitter.com/HPQuhM6lWu

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) August 12, 2026

Getting just one out loomed large when Xander Bogaerts popped out, because Jake Cronenworth followed with an RBI double.

What came next was almost as rare as a triple play.

When home plate umpire Malachi Moore rang him up on a 3-2 pitch that was inside, Tatis patted his helmet to challenge the call. It was just the fourth time this season Tatis has challenged a strike call and the third time in a row he has been right.

“I just didn’t want to get too excited with it or be super aggressive with it,” said Tatis, who unsuccessfully challenged a ball call in the third game of the season and did not do so again until July 7. “Even if they call a bad pitch, I still have an entire at-bat. For me, it was more important doing it at the right time — like today’s game.

“We were battling. I have a clue where the strike zone is with this pitcher, and I get a bad call. And its like, yeah, straight challenge right away. And next thing, we have a grand slam.”

Yes, two pitches later, Rengifo lined a ball into the seats beyond left field.

ABS overturned in #Brewers at #Padres (Bot 2).
Fernando Tatis Jr. challenged the called strike.
Called Strike -> Ball.
HP: Malachi Moore | Upheld 45.5% (60/132).
Result: Fernando Tatis Jr. walks. pic.twitter.com/gurYosS6ZD

— ABS Auditor (@ABS_Auditor) August 12, 2026

Revengifo

The Brewers are paying Rengifo about $3.4 million this season to hit .205 in 57 games for them and hit a grand slam in his second game against them.

“It’s part of baseball,” Rengifo said last night after his big game against the team that released him in June. “So the things in Milwaukee didn’t go well in the beginning of the season. But, you know, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”

Toward that end, the 29-year-old switch hitter is off to quite a start with the Padres. He signed a minor-league deal at the end of June and was called up on July 8 when Samad Taylor was placed on the injured list with an oblique strain.

After going 2-for-5 last night, Rengifo is batting .321 with an .872 OPS in 24 games (95 plate appearances) for the Padres.

“He’s helping us win ballgames in big volume,” Tatis said.

He also is helping them feel better.

You know how it seems that former Padres so often have big games when they play the Padres. Well, the Padres feel the same way.

“We always talk internally about how there’s always a lot of revenge against the Padres,” Stammen said with a laugh. “Sometimes it’s nice to have somebody that was from another team inflict that same kind of damage on somebody else.”

Luis Rengifo – San Diego Padres (3) pic.twitter.com/JccMdTmHyq

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) August 12, 2026

Campy thriving

Campusano is having the best offensive season of his career and by some measures the best offensive season by any catcher in the major leagues.

A fractured toe that cost him two months has limited him to 139 plate appearances, but his .923 OPS, .311 average and .410 on-base percentage are tops among all MLB players whose primary position is catcher.

For those who have paid attention since he made his debut late in the 2020 season and largely struggled through injury and lack of opportunity for the next five seasons, it can seem almost surreal. But Campusano is kind of like a veteran now.

“I’ve just been here,” he said last night after going 3-for-4 with a home run. “I know what it looks like. I’ve learned through the ups and downs.”

For starters

This version of the Padres would beat the version that went 17-4 over the first 25 days of April.

One reason is that the offense is better now than it was then.

But the biggest thing that differentiates the Padres as legitimate contenders now is their starting rotation.

The Padres have gotten quality starts in four of their past eight games. It is the first time that has happened for them in 2026. Further, those starts have been made by four different pitchers — Buehler, Michael King, Casey Mize and Randy Vásquez.

The past two nights are the first time this season Padres starting pitchers went six innings and allowed two or fewer runs in back-to-back games.

Somewhat amazingly, the only other time Padres starters went six innings in successive games was April 25 and 26 against the Diamondbacks in Mexico City.

Germán Márquez allowed four runs in six innings on April 25 and Michael King allowed two runs in six innings the next day.

The trades for Mize, who pitched Monday, and Robbie Ray, who pitches today, provide a whole different vibe. With those two, Michael King, a resurgent Vásquez and resilient Buehler, the Padres are not having to roll the dice, play chess and pray all at the same time just to get through nine innings every day. There is a simpler and more realistic path to victory.

Said Tatis: “Our pitchers have given us a chance to really win ball games.”

Tidbits

Last night was just the second game this season that all nine batters in the Padres’ starting lineup got at least one hit. The other time was July 2 at Dodger Stadium.
The Padres had 17 hits last night, two off their season high. It was the fourth time in their past 23 games they had at least 16 hits. They did not have more than 14 hits in any of their first 98 games.
The Padres got their run differential back to zero last night. They have scored 518 runs and allowed 518 runs. They have outscored opponents 132-83 over the past 23 games since having a season-low minus-49 run differential on July 18.
We talk a lot about the Padres’ abundant comeback victories. But what is even better/easier is never falling behind. Last night was the seventh time in the past 14 games the Padres did not trail at any point. That happened 25 times in their first 107 games.
Machado, who had hit .167 (8-for-48) over his previous 13 games, had three singles last night. It was his fifth three-hit game of the season and the fourth in his past 26 games.
Right after Bogaerts not being good, players not running hard to first base and Stammen not knowing what he is doing, the topic about which I get the most emails is Tatis swinging at the first pitch and his one-pitch at-bats. So this is in answer to those missives: Tatis has a .378 average (37-for-98) when putting the first pitch of an at-bat in play. Last night was his 36th career homer on a 0-0 count, 20 more than his next most frequent count (2-1).

All right, that’s it for me. Early game today (1:10 p.m.) and then a flight to The Land. (Cleveland is cool. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.)

Talk to you tomorrow.