The San Diego Padres were out to an underwhelming 9-11 start through the first 20 games.
After trading for Juan Soto last season and signing Xander Bogaerts, Nelson Cruz and Matt Carpenter this season, that certainly isn't the kind of start that the Padres were expecting.
The hope is that Thursday provided a jolt that will propel the Padres forward. Fernando Tatis Jr. was activated from the restricted list, allowing him to play his first game since the end of the 2021 season.
Tatis Jr. led off and played right field, which is a new position for him. He came up as a shortstop and starred for the Padres there in 2019, 2020 and 2021, but now, the team has given the position to Bogaerts.
We learned about Tatis Jr.'s position transition last week on 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast as we spoke with broadcaster Tim Hagerty, who just saw Tatis Jr. rehabbing at Triple-A El Paso.
The extra work seemed to have paid off as Tatis Jr. made an excellent play on Thursday night:
That's a great play in the bottom of the eighth inning, ranging far to his left.
At the plate, Tatis Jr. is 0-4 with two strikeouts as of this posting.
The 24-year-old Tatis was one of the brightest young stars in baseball just a few years ago. He made his debut at the age of 19 in 2019 and played 84 games for the Padres, hitting 22 home runs while stealing 16 bases. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he hit 17 more homers and then in 2021, he hit 42 homers to lead baseball and added 25 steals.
More must-reads: