Fernando Tatis Jr., once hailed as one of MLB’s premier power hitters, finally broke through with his first home run of the season on May 30. In the opening inning of the San Diego Padres’ matchup against the Washington Nationals, Tatis launched a fastball deep into the left-field stands at Nationals Park, ending a puzzling homer-less streak. The ball traveled an impressive 451 feet, marking his longest home run since 2021, according to Statcast.
The moment called for celebration, and Tatis delivered with a signature bat flip as his teammates in the Padres dugout erupted in joy. This long-awaited homer was a relief for Tatis, whose power outage had become one of the more curious narratives of the 2026 MLB season. Having led the National League with 42 home runs in 2021, Tatis has struggled to find his footing since then, grappling with a PED suspension and injuries that have sidelined him.
Despite the lack of home runs, Tatis has remained a significant presence in the lineup, previously hitting at least 20 home runs in each of the last three seasons. His challenges this year were particularly perplexing, as he entered Saturday ranked 11th in balls hit at least 95 mph, according to Baseball Savant, and boasted the 27th highest bat speed among 213 players.
However, the disparity in his performance was evident; while Tatis retained his bat speed, he was hitting ground balls at an unprecedented rate. Before Saturday’s game, he ranked 13th in MLB for groundball rate, with his launch angle plummeting from a healthy 10.0 in 2024 and 9.4 in 2025 to a concerning 0.9 in 2026.
This trend was not just a personal anomaly. Among the 12 players with a higher groundball rate than Tatis this season, all but one—Chandler Simpson—had managed to hit at least one home run. Only two players in that group, Garrett Mitchell and Edgar Quero, achieved a higher average exit velocity than Tatis. The baffling nature of this trend has contributed to what has been a career-worst season at the plate for Tatis, coinciding with a collective power struggle for the Padres, who had the second-lowest slugging percentage in MLB prior to Saturday’s game.
Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.
