HALL OF FAME BUST
Major Leauge baseball in 2022 has been nothing short of intensified moments and great baseball being displayed all around. We’ve seen teams like the Yankees, Mets, Astros, Dodgers, Braves and an abundance of other teams make runs for the playoff spots and showcase dominance on the field against opponents. We’ve also witnessed the blockbuster trade of Juan Soto catapult the Padres into being serious contenders for the the National League crown and shaping them into being a solid playoff team to possible champions in October. All the momentum has shifted onto the Padres to be the new dynasty of the MLB for the next 7-10 years but the only piece that’s missing for the Padres is the franchise player and generational talent, Fernando Tatis Jr.
Tatis made his debut for the Padres in 2019 and has been a catalyst for the success and future plans of making San Diego a powerhouse for years to come. Tatis is a 5 tool player that has gotten better over the years and continues to become a more polished player at his position and as a hitter. With the start of the 2022 MLB season, the Padres were not ecstatic to find out that their franchise player wouldn’t be involved in the first half of baseball activities because of an apparent wrist injury he suffered from a motorcyle accident during the off season. People within the organization felt as if his immature actions are leading the Padres to decline instead of uprising but nonetheless he’s still the ultimate player that they’re invested in. Fast forward to Aug 12, 2022, Tatis is now being suspended 80 games for a PED violation and won’t be returning to the team for the remainder of the 2022 season. Tatis claims that the PED’s were used for a ringworm infection he was trying to get rid of and as a result caused the PED test to result in a positive. Tatis states “ "It turns out that I inadvertently took a medication to treat ringworm that contained Clostebol,``''I should have used the resources available to me in order to ensure that no banned substances were in what I took. I failed to do so”. It doesn’t end there though, Tatis continued to speak on the situation and stated “I have no excuse for my error, and I would never do anything to cheat or disrespect this game I love. I have taken countless drug tests throughout my professional career, including on March 29, 2022, all of which have returned negative results until this test." This comes as a shocking blow for the Padres as they look to keep their spot solidified in the NL wild card and are pushing to make a championship run.
With the new information of Tatis being unable to be apart of the season, Padres management expressed their frustration and disdain with Tatis as they feel he needs to take more accountability for his actions and should be smarter in making decisions that not only affect Tatis himself but his teammates and the organization as a whole. It looked as if the Padres finally have a team that could compete with the juggernauts in the National League but when you lose a star like Tatis on your team it makes the playing field for the Padres uneven as they have to potentially face teams like the Dodgers who have Mookie Betts, Trae Turner, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Clayton Kershaw and other stars that rise to the occasion come postseason. That’s just one team that I named within their division and there are 4-5 other teams that will give the Padres issues come postseason time. The absence of Tatis not only affects the teammates who already knew him but it affects how Juan Soto would view the organization and view Tatis as a teammate. Soto’s goal was to be apart of a championship contending team and to team up with the other future face of the league so that they can reign in the MLB for some time to come but it’s hard to do that when your teammate has a long history of being injury prone and is in the media not for his great play but for his blunders off the field.
Overall, I do feel as if this was a mistake that Tatis didn’t think the situation at hand would be as big as it is, but now with everything coming to light Tatis is faced with the burden of not being the leader the organization wants him to be and has to taken the role of being the selfish star. Not only did Tatis lose the respect of his peers on the field or the respect and trust from the organization, but he’s now lost his credibility of potentially being a Hall of Fame player before he could even reach that status. Tatis has already won two silver sluggers, gold gloves and has finished top 5 in MVP voting for the past two years. He also set a major league record for homeruns hit by a shortstop(42). His career and abilities on the field were screaming future hall of famer and once in a generation type of player. Now all of that is washed away because of one bad decision to cure a wringworm. Hopefully we get to see a monster season from Tatis in the 2023 season and can win back the MLB community with his play and intensity on the field but as for now, Tatis will be known as the problem child in Slam Diego and will be viewed as that until his actions and future endeveaors show otherwise.
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