Padres' $340 Million Superstar Gets Honest About Struggles

San Diego Padres All-Star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. spoke about the issues he has had during a sub-standard month of May with The Athletic's Dennis Lin.

“A good combination of both,” Tatis said when asked if his struggles were mental or mechanical. “Obviously, you miss your pitches, and pitches (outside) the strike zone get called strikes, and then you’re trying to defend yourself. It was just a lot of stuff coming together and what happens when you’re going through a rough stretch. But you just try to stay positive, try to figure it out, what’s going on with you mechanically and mentally at the same time because it’s a really good combination of both.”

Tatis has batted just .182 in May, dropping his .345 batting average on May 1 to .269. The All-Star has gone hitless in six of his last nine games, and has just three multi-hit games this month, seven fewer than he had during April. Among Padres with at least 20 plate appearances in April, Tatis has the fourth-lowest batting average on the team, ahead of Tyler Wade, Jason Heyward and Martin Maldonado.

The 26-year-old came out of the gate hot in 2025, recording hits in nine of his first 10 games and keeping his batting average over .300 until the slump hit. He had an 11-game hitting streak in April, and had the best batting average in the National League among qualified hitters through the month.

So far this season, Tatis has 13 home runs and 28 runs batted in this season while slashing .269/.339/.495, which are still impressive numbers despite his recent duck. Despite how things have gone for him in recent weeks, Tatis maintained a positive outlook, and is doing everything he can to break out of his slump.

“Just staying positive, man,” Tatis said. “I’m trying to bring even more of myself, what I can do in the field. And … just trying to find a way. In baseball, you never have the right answer.”

His next opportunity to impress comes Saturday evening in the second game of a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tatis scored the tying run in Fridays 3-2 win against the Bucs, and will hope to build on that to return to his early-season form.

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