Fernando Tatís Jr was one of those players everybody was looking forward to watching this MLB season. He’s explosive, daring, and entertaining as a hitter and base-runner, and his much-improved defense was great news for the San Diego Padres.
‘El Niño’ hit the ground running and was the best player in baseball through the first month and a half of the season. He was making plays in the infield and getting the job done in every single plate appearance as well.
However, and even though the Padres have been on a roll even despite his struggles, Tatís Jr has cooled off drastically since the start of September, thus losing a lot of ground in the race for the National League MVP award.
Fernando Tatís Jr Is No Longer The NL MVP
Until August 31, Fernando Tatís Jr was batting .309 with 12 home runs, 28 RBIs, an OPS of 1.033, and 7 stolen bases. However, the Dominican star has vastly struggled over the past three weeks or so.
Since September 1, Fernando Tatís Jr has only logged 7 hits in 38 plate appearances (.184). He’s got just 2 dingers and 6 RBIs over 11 games. Even so, the Padres have still managed to go 8-3 over that span.
That slump made Tatís Jr’s average drop to .281, while his OPS is down to .951. Thus far, He’s logged ‘just’ 15 homers and 34 RBIs, and even though he’s still leading the National League in home runs, it seems like Mookie Betts has now taken him down in the MVP race after the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season.
At least, the San Diego Padres are bound to go back to the postseason for the first time in 14 years and have a legit shot at upsetting the Dodgers and making it to the World Series after 22 years without an NL pennant.
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