It’s safe to say that no one had San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. getting to May 1 without a homer on his stat sheet.
But that’s the case as Tatis and San Diego gear up for the first game on Friday of a three-game weekend series against the visiting Chicago White Sox.
It would be ironic if Tatis finally went deep against the organization that originally found him before trading him in June 2016 for the veteran right-hander James Shields, a one-time All-Star who went 4-12 that season with Chicago and 16-35 there to close out his career.
Since making his major league debut with the Padres in 2019, Tatis has slugged 152 homers, winning a home run title with 42 in 2021. The three-time All-Star has swiped 132 bases, including a career-high 32 last year, and has become a platinum Gold Glove right fielder after starting his career as a plus defender at shortstop.
However, he’s yet to perform his patented home run trot this year, even though his recent swings — he’s swatted a spate of balls well over 100 mph — suggest he might find the bleachers sooner instead of later.
“I’m doing everything — hitting early, doing batting practice, after (games),” Tatis said. “It still doesn’t turn around. I don’t know … trying to figure it out.”
Tatis is batting .250 with 13 RBI and eight steals in 10 attempts. He’s one of a handful of San Diego hitters still looking for their best form. Center fielder Jackson Merrill, a career .271 hitter, is down to .200 this season after managing only one hit in the team’s series loss to the Chicago Cubs. Second baseman Jake Cronenworth, a career .244 hitter, is batting a shocking .146.
But the team has pitched well enough, including Friday night’s starter, right-hander German Marquez (3-1, 4.38 ERA). He’s coming off a 6-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday in Mexico City, allowing four runs on six hits over six innings with a walk and two strikeouts.
Marquez is 1-2 with a 4.74 ERA in three career starts against the White Sox.
Noah Schultz (1-1, 3.52) takes the ball for Chicago. The rookie lefty last worked on Saturday, fanning eight and permitting just four hits and two runs over six innings while walking four in a no-decision against Washington. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Schultz has allowed only eight hits in 15 1/3 innings and fanned 18 but walked nine.
Schultz is one reason why the White Sox are finally trending in the right direction after three long years. Chicago polished off a three-game home sweep of the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday with a 3-2, 10-inning win on Colson Montgomery’s game-winning single.
The White Sox finished April at 13-13, their first full month of .500 baseball since June 2023 (13-13). The 2026 run included a sweep of defending American League champion Toronto and a series win at Arizona.
“After a tough first couple of series, it feels like we’ve found different ways to win some of these close ballgames that maybe last year we wouldn’t have won,” said second-year manager Will Venable. “They’re coming to the ballpark focused and energized.”
The addition of rookie third baseman Munetaka Murakami from Japan has given the team a hammer in the middle of the order. Murakami is batting only .236 but has belted 12 homers to tie Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees for the MLB lead.
–Field Level Media
