Mike Shildt Defends Fernando Tatis Jr.'s Ups and Downs Last Season

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. had a season of ups and downs in 2023. On one hand, he succeeded in his move to right field. At right field, Tatis Jr. led the NL in runs saved and won the first Gold Glove award of his career.

As a hitter, things did not go as smoothly for Tatis Jr. He hit the second-highest amount of RBIs (78) and home runs (25) since making his major league debut in 2019 but had his lowest batting average in the majors (.257).

However, Padres manager Mike Shildt credited injuries and time away from the game as reasons for Tatis Jr.'s inconsistencies in 2023.

“The hardest thing to do in the entire sporting industry is hit a baseball. You take 17 months off of doing it, and then you come back, it’s not easy to just jump back into it as maybe people would expect or hope. So he got his at-bats, he got through it. There were some ups and downs, which is, regardless of the player, the game is hard. … Now he’s got those experiences, got his offseason. Now it’s time for him to take that next step — getting back to the dominant player that he’s excited to be.”

— Mike Shildt, via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Tatis Jr. spent much of the 2022 season away from the field as he began the year recovering from a fractured scaphoid bone. Tatis Jr. was later suspended in August after testing positive for steroids. This suspension filtered into the 2023 season, causing him to miss 20 games.

All this resulted in a 2023 campaign that left the Padres wanting more out of Tatis Jr. With Tatis Jr. now healthy and past his suspension, he'll have a better shot at more consistency in 2024.