After missing part of 2021, all of 2022, and the beginning of the 2023 campaign, San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. is finally ready to play a major league game with his team.
Injuries and a suspension got on the way, but “El Niño” (the kid) will be available on Thursday.
Of course, as you would expect, everything is happiness in the Tatis household and among his teammates.
The player himself chose some cool words to announce his excitement.
“What a beautiful day”, I tweeted.
That means “what a beautiful day,” for those not paying attention in Spanish class.
What a beautiful day ☀️❤️🔥⚠️
— Fernando Tatis Jr. (@tatis_jr) April 20, 2023
Tatis will, most likely, be in the lineup when the 9-11 Padres visit the 11-8 Arizona Diamondbacks in an intra-divisional clash at Chase Field.
It will be fascinating to see where exactly manager Bob Melvin places him.
The Padres offense was supposed to be otherworldly after a series of offseason additions, but that hasn’t been the case.
Juan Soto has been struggling and is hitting .194, and Manny Machado, Austin Nola and Matt Carpenter have all been below-average offensively.
The addition of Tatis, who was absolutely stellar in his short tune-up stint with El Paso – the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate – should be met with enormous happiness by fans.
The fact he welcomed himself back with a tweet is cool and speaks of his self-confidence.
He believes in his abilities and knows he can help the Padres turn around the ship.
In 273 games as a major leaguer, Tatis is slashing .292/.369/.596 with 81 home runs, 52 stolen bases and an incredible .965 OPS.
With him, the offense should get going eventually and start to meet preseason expectations.
NEXT:
Padres Star Will Make His Long-Awaited Return On Thursday
