Sep 21, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) celebrates his solo home run against the Chicago White Sox during the third inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Padres' Fernando Tatis Predicted to Win Major Award This Season

Originally posted on San Diego Padres on SI
By Patrick Warren | Last updated Sep 23, 2025 4:13 PM ET

As the regular season is mere days away from reaching its conclusion, it's time to start thinking about two things: the MLB Playoffs and the MLB Awards.

While performing in the postseason is an infinitely higher priority than bringing home any personal awards, there is one member of the San Diego Padres who is likely to hear his name called on stage at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on Nov. 13.

Right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. has had a strong season in the outfield, and is MLB.com's Jared Greenspan and Jason Foster's pick to win the Gold Glove award for the National League. It would be Tatis' second such award of his career, as he won a Gold Glove in 2023. In the same season, Tatis won a Platinum Glove Award, given to the single best defensive player in each league.

"Tatis remains an elite outfielder in terms of both range and arm strength, and, bottom line, he makes plays," the two wrote. Tatis leads all MLB right fielders with 334 putouts, 64 more than the next-highest total. He also leads with 18 DRS, has a right-field-best plus-9 Fielding Run Value and is tied for the lead for double plays turned in right field, with three. He also has a serious homer-robbing habit that causes fits for the opposition."

According to Baseball Reference, Tatis has the highest total zone total fielding runs above average in the major leagues — a mouthful of a stat that quantifies a player's total contribution to their team's defense over a season. Tatis' Rtot of 31 is four higher than Ian Happ, the next highest rated defender.

Offensively, Tatis is having a strong season with 23 home runs and a .267/.367/.438 split — not the best season of his career, but right around his career averages.

Tatis has also shown his dependability this season, appearing in 1,284 innings — the 23rd-highest mark in the major leagues. He earned high praise from his manager earlier this month, as Shildt called Tatis and his fellow Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill the best duo in MLB.

“Those two guys … and I am biased when I say this, but from a skillset, when you think about competition and how you beat the other team, the skillset between ‘Tati’ and Jackson is as good a duo that I believe there is in the game, because they can do it all, and it was on display today,” said Shildt.