Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. Says Dodgers Star is Best Player in MLB

"I feel like that's a really obvious question," Tatis said, laughing, via Darnay Tripp of NBC San Diego on Twitter/X, "but he's my rival, I'm not gonna mention his name. You know it already — 17 for the blue team."

Ohtani's jersey number and color require no further clarification.

Writes Chuck Schilken of the Los Angeles Times: "The two-way superstar from Japan was No. 1 for the 2023 regular season, his last with the Angels, and the 2024 regular season, his first with the Dodgers. His jersey was also the top seller during the most recent offseason, after he was named the 2024 National League MVP and won his first World Series championship."

Although the Dodgers and Padres have aired plenty of disagreements on the field and in the press, the occasion of Tuesday's All-Star Game in Atlanta offered players on both sides a moment to show mutual respect.

Ohtani was voted the best player in MLB in a league-wide poll conducted last year by The Athletic. All he's done since then is record the first 50-homer, 50-steal season in MLB history, lead the Dodgers to a World Series championship, and win the National League Most Valuable Player Award in a unanimous vote.

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This year, Ohtani returned to pitching following a nearly two-year rehabilitation from elbow surgery. He has allowed only one run across his first nine innings on the mound, striking out 10 batters while walking two and allowing only five hits.

Tatis is hardly the first opponent to be left speechless by Ohtani's historic two-way play in MLB. For his part, Dodgers catcher Will Smith went out of his way to praise Tatis Monday in Atlanta himself.

"He’s giving 100 percent every time he goes out there, which is cool,” Smith said of Tatis, via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. "When he’s on, he’s better than anybody almost. Everybody is human here. We all have slumps. We all have years we’re not performing at our best. I don’t know his stats currently, but he deserves to be here.”

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