The San Diego Padres enter the new week with a 16-6 record to start the 2025 MLB season, good enough for a half-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.
With San Diego making the playoffs in 2024, they are on track to make it again in 2025. One of the players who has helped the Padres to another good start is outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. The star has been with San Diego since the 2019 season and has been a bit inconsistent.
Off to a hot start this year, Tatis Jr. credits a brutally honest conversation with his father over the offseason about his hitting approach.
Padres Star Fernando Tatis Jr. Credits His Dad For His Hot Start
Tatis Jr. was on the Baseball Tonight Podcast with Buster Olney of ESPN. He talked about his improvements at the plate between the 2024 season and the 2025 season.
Tatis Jr. said on the podcast, “My dad asked me if I was a good hitter. I told him, ‘Yeah.’ And he told me, ‘No,'” and then his Dad, Fernando Tatis Sr., who used to play in the MLB also said, “Because you never hit .300 consistently.”
It is extremely rare to see a major-league hitter improve significantly in plate discipline, but that is what Fernando Tatis Jr. is doing. And it stems from an offseason conversation with his father, who asked him:
"Do you think you're a good hitter?"
The son answered yes.
No,…— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) April 21, 2025
Tatis Jr. has only hit over .300 once in his MLB career. It was during the 2019 season with San Diego when he appeared in 84 games during his rookie season. During that same season, he hit .317 with 22 home runs and 53 RBIs, along with 16 stolen bases and six caught stolen bases. His on-base percentage was .379.
He was the brightest star in baseball until he was hit with a PED suspension in 2022 while rehabbing from shoulder surgery. While he slightly fell from grace, the Gold Glover appears to be reclaiming his star status this year.
In 2025, the 26-year-old is on track to hit over .300 for only the second time in his career. Tatis Jr. has a .358 batting average with eight home runs and 16 RBIs, along with seven stolen bases and zero caught stealing. He currently leads the National League in home runs.
Tatis Jr. has shown massive improvements from this year compared to last season. During the 2024 MLB season, he only had a .276 batting average with 21 home runs and 49 RBIs, along with 11 stolen bases and three caught stolen bases. His on-base percentage was .340.
Though the season just started, Tatis Jr. is trending towards making the All-Star game, if not earning a spot in the starting lineup. Even more incredible is that the Padres need this great performance from Tatis Jr. after losing Jurickson Profar in free agency and Jackson Merrill to injury.
Though the Padres still have plenty of stars on the roster, the emergence from Tatis Jr. is a huge reason why San Diego has the best winning percentage in baseball.
If only all players could improve significantly after a stern talk with their father. If Tatis Jr. sustains his electric output, his 14-year $340 million contract with the Padres might not look too bad when all is said and done. Perhaps we’ll look back at the 2025 MLB season and see it as a turning point for his career.