Good morning from New York,
This city is in many ways the world’s biggest stage.
On it, Fernando Tatis Jr. turned in a commanding performance.
My game story (here) from last night’s 5-2 victory over the Mets covered the highlights:
Robbie Ray pitched six innings for the first time with the Padres. Manny Machado homered for the first time in 21 games. Adrian Morejón and Mason Miller did what they do so reliably.
But the story centered on Tatis and what he did to — despite all those other contributions — almost singlehandedly lift the Padres to victory.
He represented a seven-run shift.
Tatis homered on the first pitch of the game and hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning.
In between, he made what might not be the best of his eight career home run robberies but what was inarguably the biggest and the most dramatic when he took away a grand slam from Francisco Lindor.
Fernando Tatis Jr robs Francisco Lindor of a grand slam.
His reaction is ice cold. Can’t be mad at it pic.twitter.com/j2oUrzWCsi
— Master Flip | Phillip Feliz 🇩🇴 (@Masterflip_) August 18, 2026
“I’m a baseball lover,” Jackson Merrill said. “Anytime someone does something cool, it’s cool to see. That was one of the cooler moments. Taking away a grand slam. Especially with Lindor at the plate. Big guy, big name. That’s ‘Tati,’ bro. He’s him. Big game too . Every game now is huge for us.”
That is the thing.
Big moments are bigger in New York.
Moreover, they are bigger in big games.
Padres manager Craig Stammen, who was a relief pitcher for the Padres when Tatis made his MLB debut in 2019, assessed last night to be “up there as one of the most impactful games he’s had as a Padre.”
Hmmm.
Let’s take a minute to think about that:
It is difficult to beat Game 2 of the 2020 National League Wild Card Series against the Cardinals. With the Padres facing elimination and trailing 6-2 in the sixth inning, Tatis hit a three-run homer to get them within a run, and Manny Machado followed him to the plate and tied the game with a solo homer. Tatis’ next time up, three batters after a Wil Myers homer gave the Padres the lead, Tatis hit a two-run homer. The Padres won 11-9 and the next day, in “The Stammen Game,” won their first playoff series since 1998.
On Aug. 17, 2020, Tatis lit a torch to the unwritten rule book when he sent a 3-0 pitch from Juan Nicasio over the right field wall for a grand slam in a game in Texas the Padres already led by seven runs. It was his second home run of the game, and it set off something of a debate in the game about the “unwritten rules.” And we haven’t heard all that much about them since.
Tatis singlehandedly created the deciding run in a 2-1 victory in Pittsburgh on May 5, 2025. Tatis led off the ninth inning with a double, stole third base and scored on a passed ball that got barely six feet from the catcher.
The two-homer game in a 10-2 victory over the Dodgers in the ‘24 NL Division Series was big. Even though it was a rout, Tatis hit a home run in the first inning that got the Padres rolling. He also doubled, was hit by a pitch and scored, and he capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the ninth. And it was against the Dodgers.
In the second game of what would end up being a five-homer series at Dodger Stadium in April 2021, Tatis broke a 1-1 tie with a homer, extended the lead to 3-1 with a homer and drove in the final run in a 6-1 victory with an RBI single. Part of what makes this performance so special is how special it was to Tatis, coming as it did on April 23, the 22nd anniversary of his father hitting two grand slams in the same inning in the same ballpark.
The only three-homer game of Tatis’ career came in an 11-5 victory over the Diamondbacks on June 25, 2021. His first home run put the Padres up 1-0 in the first inning. He extended their lead with another solo shot in the second. After the Diamondbacks had fought back to 6-5, Tatis hit a two-run homer in the fourth. He also singled and scored in the seventh.
Six RBIs in a 9-2 victory over the Mariners on May 23, 2021, included a solo homer that made it 1-0, an RBI single that broke a 1-1 tie and a grand slam that extended the Padres’ lead to 8-1.
In his first game back after two weeks on the injured list, on Aug. 15, 2021, Tatis doubled his first time up, gave the Padres a 1-0 lead with a home run his second time up, broke a 1-1 tie with another solo homer his third time up and drove in two runs with a single in his fourth at-bat in an 8-2 victory over the Diamondbacks.
With two outs in the ninth inning and the Padres down 6-3 on May 31, 2021, Tatis tied the game with a three-run homer off the Astros’ Ryan Pressly. The Padres went on to win in 11 innings.
In his first big game against the Dodgers, Tatis drove in four of the Padres’ five runs in a 5-4 victory in Los Angeles on July 7, 2019. He made it 1-0 with a homer leading off the game and 5-1 with a three-run homer in the fifth.
I probably missed one or two of his most impactful games.
But that was a good trip down memory lane. And it matters most because Merrill is correct. Tatis is “him” again.
And why is it important that Tatis is back to being Tatis? Well, besides the pure entertainment factor, most championship-caliber teams are star powered.
The “complete team win” is the ideal. Fact is, the Dodgers win a lot of games because Shohei Ohtani wills it. (Or sometimes Freddie Freeman or Mookie Betts.)
We began to talk here a few weeks ago about the moments Tatis was once again creating.
He is clearly feeling it.
The way he played the moment after the robbery last night was as swaggy as it gets.
“It just happened, man,” he said of his stone-faced pose with the ball while much of the crowd at Citi Field held its breath wondering if he had actually caught the ball. “You can’t plan that, or you can’t be thinking about that during the game. Just the situation itself, where we’re at and making that catch is, it just comes out in moments like that.”
After the game, Tatis posted on X for the first time since March:
— Fernando Tatis Jr. (@tatis_jr) August 19, 2026
For the Padres, it is a gigantic boost that a superstar is once again being a superstar.
“Consistency,” he said. “That’s (everything) in this game. That’s where you separate yourself from the common group. And when I’m able to do stuff like that, and on a more consistent basis, I can definitely help a team to be a big part to win ballgames.”
Tatis’ two home runs last night gave him 10 in his past 29 games. His 1.008 OPS leads the major leagues in that span.
Remember where he was on May 23.
“I think it’s just been a continuation of him not trying to be a certain type of baseball player, but just to be a great baseball player and impact the game in any way that he can,” Stammen said. “And I think 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. And he can do that with his speed. He can do that with defense. He can certainly do it with his bat.”
Bangers
Tatis is getting a lot of bang from his bombs, too.
His 15 home runs are the fewest he has had through 125 games in any of the five seasons he has played that many games. And, in fact, he hit 21 homers in 102 games in 2024, 22 homers in 84 games in 2019 and 17 homers in 59 games in 2020.
There are 93 players in the major leagues with more home runs than Tatis this season.
But none have hit as many balls as far.
Tatis’ 452-foot blast to the second deck at Citi Field on the first pitch of last night’s game was his fourth home run projected to have traveled at least 450 feet.
Nando wastes no time. pic.twitter.com/vq6ZK4XHIM
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 18, 2026
That is one more than the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber, whose 37 home runs lead the major leagues, and the Rays’ Junior Caminero, who has 35 home runs.
Tatis’ 474-foot homer on July 21 in Arizona is the longest in the major leagues this year.
Reliability, durability
Padres starting pitchers have thrown six innings in three consecutive games for the first time this season.
Ray’s outing last night was just the 31st time this season a Padres starter has gone at least six innings in a game, more than only the Rockies (25). It was the seventh time in the past 10 games, a Padres starter went that deep in a game after doing so just three times in their previous 25 games.
That represents, as much as anything, the difference in the outlook for the team after acquiring Ray and Casey Mize at the trade deadline.
And that difference was illustrated ted by Stammen being able to trust Ray to go back out for the sixth last night in a game the Padres led by two runs when he has so often not done so this season.
“He’s going to give you six innings,” Stammen said. “That’s just what he does. He’s a very experienced, tough, competitive person and pitcher, and he fits right into our team.”
After a shaky five innings in his Padres debut and a resilient four innings in his next start, Ray had a fairly typical Ray outing last night in that he navigated a good bit of traffic and got deeper in the game.
“That’s kind of how he does it,” Stammen said. “He chucks the ball. He’ll walk a few here and there, but he knows how to get out of jams. He knows how to pitch. He’s going to give you six innings. That’s just what he does. He’s a very experienced, tough, competitive person and pitcher.”
Ray’s 1.82 ERA over his past 11 games is fourth best in the major leagues in that span. His 3.73 FIP ranks 33rd among 65 qualifying starters in that time, which is illustrative of a 12.1% walk rate that is third highest.
He makes the big pitches far more often than not.
The Mets were hitless in seven at-bats with men on base last night. Ray is holding opponents to a .188 average with runners on this season, fourth best in MLB. Opponent’s .173 average with runners in scoring position against Ray is seventh best.
Perhaps his finest escape last night was when he retired the Mets’ 3-4-5 hitters after a leadoff double by Bo Bichette in the third inning.
“I’ve been in this game a while,” said Ray, who won the American League Cy Young award in 2021 with the Blue Jays. “I’ve been through a lot of circumstances and been able to get out of them for most of my career, so I think it’s just experience.”
Now, one of those fruitless at-bats by the Mets came with the bases loaded.
Ray, who after his last start marveled he had never “seen a guy score from second base on a groundball to first base” when Tatis did just that, last night marveled, “He’s one of the most athletic fielders I’ve ever seen.”
And he credited Tatis with helping turn around his outing.
“It was huge,” he said of the grand slam robbery. “To be able to come out of that inning with a zero and then score some more runs was great. I was able to start really attacking the zone after those walks. I just kind of beared down.”
Not yet
Joe Musgrove’s next start will be in the minor leagues.
As of yesterday, the Padres were still determining whether that would be in Double-A or Triple-A.
Virtually every sign has been highly encouraging as Musgrove’s velocity and command have increased and the shape of his pitches has improved with each of his three rehab starts.
But the Padres feel no need to rush him after acquiring Mize and Ray.
Musgrove has not pitched in the major leagues since Game 2 of the 2024 National League Division Series. He had Tommy John surgery a week later and was shut down in spring training with discomfort arising from his having no cartilage in his elbow.
Primarily, the Padres want to make sure Musgrove is built up enough to not only throw 80-plus pitches in a game but to recover and be able to do it again five or six days later.
Tidbits
I wrote (here) yesterday about former Padres relief pitcher Robert Stock, who will start for the Mets today. Stock had been a longshot to get to the major leagues when he debuted for the Padres in 2018. What he has done to get back is stunning. And you won’t believe his plans for the future.
Machado broke a drought of 20 games and 76 at-bats without a home run when he hit his 24th homer of the season in last night’s ninth inning. He also singled twice and walked. Machado is batting just .250 (20-for-80) over his past 21 games. Last night was the fourth time in that span he had three hits.
Jake Cronenworth was 1-for-4 last night and is batting .303 (10-for-33) in an eight-game hitting streak. It is his longest hitting streak since a career-high 12-gamer in 2024. Cronenworth is batting .278 with a .704 OPS in 43 games since returning from a two-month stay on the concussion IL.
Ty France’s single in last night’s fifth inning was the first RBI against the Mets by a Padres player other than Tatis or Freddy Fermin this season. Fermin drove in five of the Padres six runs in a series loss to the Mets in June. The other run in that series scored on a single by Tatis.
Fermin’s single in last night’s sixth inning meant a Padres catcher (Fermin or Luis Campusano) had reached base safely in 30 of the Padres’ 31 games since the All-Star break.
Merrill struck out four times last night. The only other time he had done so was July 19, 2024. The next day, he was 2-for-5 and went on to hit .320 with a .962 OPS the rest of that season.
After going 0-for-2 with two walks last night, Luis Rengifo has a .416 on-base percentage in 28 games (114 plate appearances) since July 19, his second game with the Padres. It is Rengifo’s third-highest OBP over any 28-game stretch in his career.
Last night was the 20th time in their past 33 games that the Padres scored at least five runs. They did so 34 times in their first 93 games.
A victory today would give the Padres their fourth consecutive series win and make them 7-0-1 over their past eight series. It would also get them to 10 games above .500 for the first time since they were 31-21 on May 24. Last night, they moved two games up on the Diamondbacks in the wild-card chase. This is the first time the Padres have been this comfortably in playoff position since May 29.
All right, that’s it for me.
Talk to you tomorrow.