{"id":66001,"date":"2025-07-14T22:55:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T22:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/66001\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T22:55:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T22:55:12","slug":"padres-fernando-tatis-jr-considered-who-you-want-to-be-by-fellow-all-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/66001\/","title":{"rendered":"Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. considered ‘who you want to be’ by fellow All-Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA \u2014 Over three days in late June, Major League Baseball players voted, along with managers and coaches, on who among their peers should be an All-Star.<\/p>\n

They could select up to five starting pitchers, three relievers, two players at each infield position and six outfielders in their league.<\/p>\n

And it seems that for many who cast electronic ballots in the National League, it was a no-brainer to vote for a player who was just beginning to show signs of coming out of a career-worst slump.<\/p>\n

And so Fernando Tatis Jr. will make the second All-Star appearance of his career on Tuesday in Atlanta. He was voted in by fans in 2021 and 2024, but pulled out of last year\u2019s game\u00a0due to a leg injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best, ever since he came in the league,\u201d Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz said Monday. \u201cHe\u2019s still dangerous. It doesn\u2019t matter how he\u2019s doing at the moment. That\u2019s why he\u2019s an All-Star.\u201d<\/p>\n

De La Cruz was one of a half-dozen of Tatis\u2019 NL All-Star teammates who spoke Monday about the Padres\u2019 26-year-old right fielder.<\/p>\n

On the night his All-Star selection was announced, Tatis was asked if he was surprised.<\/p>\n

The answer was somewhat self-evident in that he had made reservations at an out-of-the-way resort for the first three days of this week.<\/p>\n

His response, however, had a hint of defiance along with some defense of what why he was a worthy pick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean,\u201d he said before a long pause, \u201cI\u2019ve been playing good baseball, man. It\u2019s just a really good combination of baserunning, defense, you know. Obviously, we know I can be a way better player offensively, but at the same time, I\u2019m trying to do everything at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Padres\u2019 Luis Arraez and Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrate after a win over the Nationals on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

That is a significant part of why he is here.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s giving 100% every time he goes out there, which is cool,\u201d Dodgers catcher Will Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe plays the game really well,\u201d Reds pitcher Andrew Abbott said. \u201cHe has a cannon in the outfield. He hits homers, hits for average. He does the little things right. He\u2019s what you would describe as an everyday player that is what you would want on the field. He\u2019s going to do whatever he needs to do to help the team win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certainly, star power is on Tatis\u2019 side as well.<\/p>\n

Tatis is among those whose stardom has crossed borders. As big as he is in San Diego and as many kids wear his jersey in cities around the Unites States, he is bigger in the Dominican Republic, a country that counts All-Star baseball players among its chief exports.<\/p>\n

Shohei Ohtani was the only NL All-Star during Monday\u2019s media availability to have a more consistently humongous throng of reporters around his table. Most of those shouting questions at Tatis for 45 minutes were doing so in Spanish.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a superstar,\u201d said De La Cruz, a fellow Dominican.<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Diego Padres\u2019 Fernando Tatis Jr. hits a home run against the Washington Nationals during the ninth inning at Petco Park on Monday, June 23, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

It was the timing of the vote that contributed to making Tatis\u2019 selection seem odd to many fans.<\/p>\n

But big-league players see the game differently.<\/p>\n

They have to face each other. They know what it takes to be good and what it is to be great. They observe not only results but how the game is played.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt matters a lot to us,\u201d Abbott said. \u201cPersonality-wise is big, but also how much energy and effort are you giving. And if it\u2019s a lot, then a lot of guys are going to have your back at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FernandoFernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres catches Kyle Higashioka #11 of the Texas Rangers fly ball during the ninth inning at Petco Park on Friday, July 4, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Players queried about the voting process say not everyone considers their ballot the same way, with equal gravity or even participates.\u00a0But it probably did not hurt Tatis that the first row on the electronic stat sheet provided with the ballot listed players\u2019 WAR. To see a fuller accounting of statistics required scrolling over.<\/p>\n

At the time ballots were sent to players, Tatis ranked sixth in the National League in WAR and was third among the league\u2019s outfielders. Tatis\u2019 4.1 WAR currently ranks third in the NL and is second among outfielders behind the Cubs\u2019 Pete Crow-Armstrong (4.9).<\/p>\n

The formula for Wins Above Replacement takes into account a player\u2019s contributions on defense and running the bases in addition to offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can do it all out there,\u201d Diamondbacks right fielder Corbin Carroll said. \u201cThe power he has, I\u2019ve had a front-row seat to that for a couple years now. He takes the bags too. The play in the outfield \u2014 the arm, the range. He\u2019s the complete player. He\u2019s who you want to be as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tatis did acknowledge deriving some validation from his All-Star selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game has evolved, the game has changed,\u201d he said Monday. \u201cBut being able to bring the small things to the game is always great. Especially when the small things lead to big things. Baseball players in a lot of ways know how to identify that. It\u2019s really humbling how people are paying attention to the small details.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Padres\u2019 Fernando Tatis Jr. leads off first base while the Dodgers\u2019 Shohei Ohtani pitches during the first inning Monday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Harry How\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

That said, Tatis\u2019 offensive numbers when taken in totality would seem All-Star-worthy.<\/p>\n

He is batting .274\/.370\/.460 and has hit 16 home runs, scored 65 runs and stolen 21 bases. His .830 OPS and his homer total are tied for seventh among NL outfielders, the steals are fourth and the runs are tied for third. His 136 wRC-plus, a highly regarded metric that purports to measure overall offensive contribution, is sixth among NL outfielders.<\/p>\n

He is one of six players at any position in all of MLB to have at least 16 home runs and 20 stolen bases.<\/p>\n

While he hit just .188\/.277\/.333 in 35 games from May 3 to June 12, he has hit .320\/.419\/.525 over his other 59 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he\u2019s on, he\u2019s better than anybody almost,\u201d Smith said. \u201cEverybody is human here. We all have slumps. We all have years we\u2019re not performing at our best. I don\u2019t know his stats currently, but he deserves to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA \u2014 Over three days in late June, Major League Baseball players voted, along with managers and coaches,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":66002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1370,1266,3549,1306,7264,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-66001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-san-diego-padres","15":"tag-sandiego","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114854056752298332","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}