2023 Padres Season Review: Fernando Tatis Jr.

2023 Regular Season Statistics

4.4 fWAR, 141 G, .257 AVG, .322 OBP, .449 SLG, 113 wRC+, 91 R, 78 RBI, 25 HR

Positives From This Season

For all of the hate that Fernando Tatis Jr. received this season from opposing fans, I thought he handled it pretty well (same goes for what he said in the media). On the field, he definitely had his moments that reminded the baseball world how special of a talent he is. Remember when he stole home? How about his home run robbery at Petco Park?

Tatis played more games than anyone expected going into the year, including Bob Melvin, which should give fans confidence he’ll be able to be out there consistently again in 2024. Don’t forget that Tatis will also get to have a full healthy offseason, which is not what he had before last year because he was recovering from his three surgeries.

“It hasn’t been, you know, perfect for him. But I think this was a season where he was gonna go out there, he was gonna play every day as much as he could. He was gonna play hard. He was gonna play a new position. He was going to be inspired every day,” Melvin told Bryce Miller in September. “He’s done all of that.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way he’s handled himself.”

Go take a look for yourself at the 24-year-old’s Baseball Savant page. That’ll tell you all you need to know about how great he was in his first full season as an outfielder. There’s A LOT of red there.

Negatives From This Season

Missing the first 20 games due to his suspension probably hurt the team and is one of the many what ifs from this past season. San Diego went 9-11 in their first 20 games.

While he was one of the select 25 HR-25 SB players in the league, the swing and miss was still there (20th percentile). His second half OPS was over 200 points below his first half OPS and one of his worst offensive months of the season came down the stretch. Tatis hit .223 with an OPS barely over .700 in September/October.

“I couldn’t execute the way I’m capable of,” Tatis told Kevin Acee when asked about his finish to the season. “I don’t know. A lot of factors. My swing was feeling better, then I kind of lost it. Just wasn’t able to execute the way I wanted.”

“It was a good year for any baseball player, any guy that stepped on the field,” Tatis told Bryce Miller after the final home stand of the year. “Everybody knows I can do double or probably triple that, what I’ve done this year. I’m really looking forward to next year on that.”

If that’s the case, we’re all looking forward to the 2024 version of Fernando Tatis Jr.