Padres Manager Calls Fernando Tatis 'Best Player on the Planet' Under One Condition

San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt commended All-Star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., who had rocketed himself out of a month-long slump over the past few games.

“Put on a show, really the last (few) days, with how he can help you win a ball game,” Shildt said over the weekend. “The at-bats were great. The contact read at third was almost — I mean, it’s really as good as anything you’re going to see.”

Tatis tore up the Arizona Diamondbacks' pitching staff, recording multiple-hit performances in all three games during their series.

He capped the three-game set off with a 4-for-5 performance with two doubles and three runs. The two extra-base hits he recorded in Sunday's loss matched his total for the entire month of June prior to that game.

After a hot start to the season, Tatis' production slowed down to a crawl in May. He had the worst OPS he had ever posted in a month, and batted .184 through 26 games. He carried his slump into June, where he had just one multi-hit game through the first 10 games of the month.

Tatis recorded all three of his RBIs in June during the final two games of the series, and played a part in four of the Padres eight runs in their win to close the series.

“The energy is contagious,” Shildt said. “The style of play sets the tone. (When) he does that, he’s the best player on the planet. He just is. I don’t like to say that because I don’t want it to be a burden to him, because that’s a heavy one to carry. But the reality is when he’s able to put his whole game together, he’s just a dynamic force that absolutely beats the other team.”

Tatis continued his good form with a 2-for-4 performance on Monday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, including getting a hit and scoring the first run of the game against Shohei Ohtani.

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