Fernando Tatis Jr. is adjusting to a new position this season.
The San Diego Padres star returned from his 80-game PED suspension in April and was forced to move to right field after the team had added Xander Bogaerts this past offseason.
However, the young superstar doesn’t appear to be having any trouble adjusting to right field.
On Wednesday night, he made a heads-up play against the Cleveland Guardians.
Amed Rosario lined one into the right field corner, and as he was turning to head to second base, Tatis faked a throw in that direction to force him back to first base before firing a strike to Jake Cronenworth to nab him.
MLB posted a video of the highlight on Twitter.
Heads-up play to deke the runner by Fernando Tatis Jr. pic.twitter.com/rgiC4sFEXd
—MLB (@MLB) June 15, 2023
This certainly was a smart play by Tatis.
In any other scenario, Rosario most likely would have been headed for second base and drawn the throw there.
However, given Tatis’ positioning, the closer play was at first base.
And so, the Padres right fielder thought quickly and managed to fool Rosario by faking a throw to second base, which forced him to retreat back to first.
Tatis’ throw to first was right on the money as Rosario was ultimately put away.
The Padres won the game by a final score of 5-0 behind another dominant start by right-hander Michael Wacha.
But at that moment, Tatis stole the show and managed to make the play of the night.
The Padres improved to 33-34 on the season and moved closer to first place in the National League West.
NEXT:
Michael Wacha Continues His Dominant Run