ATLANTA, GEORGIA – MAY 20: Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres hits a single in the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on May 20, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
There's an old saying in sports: "Big players make big plays in big games." Historically, it's been true. Patrick Mahomes wins Super Bowls. Michael Jordan won NBA championships.
If it translates to baseball, the Padres are in a good place because there are no bigger games than postseason games and Fernando Tatis Jr. has a tendency to thrive in big games. The superstar outfielder has only appeared in the playoffs once. But that one time?
My goodness, was it impressive.
In the 2020 postseason, Tatis Jr. played six games. He hit .318 with an 1.126 OPS and had one swing that was so epic, it put him on the cover of a video game.
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That bat flip that ended up on the front of MLB The Show happened on October 1, 2020 ... exactly four years to the day that Tatis Jr. will make his postseason return in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card series against the Atlanta Braves. The 25-year-old missed the Padres 2022 playoff run due to injuries and a performance-enhancing drug suspension. Tatis Jr. says those moments in 2020 were great, but that might have just been an appetizer.
"I remember a lot of it. Especially the emotions," says Tatis Jr. "But, I'm just looking forward to what we can do as a team this year. I feel like part of what I did back in those days, it's definitely going to be probably even better this time."
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That could be a terrifying proposition for a Braves club that's coming to town about as gassed as a baseball team can be. Atlanta had to play a doubleheader on Monday, winning the second game to earn the National League's final playoff spot. Chris Sale, the Cy Young Award frontrunner, is dealing with back spasms and isn't even on the Braves Wild Card series roster.
Atlanta's pitching staff has been taxed to the point they're starting the series with 21-year-old rookie A.J. Smith-Shawver on the mound against Padres righty Michael King. The latter has been one of the best pitchers in the National League over the last two months. The former is making his second career big league start.
Smith-Shawver is the 2nd-ranked prospect in the heralded Atlanta system but other than that? The Padres are kind of going into this game blind.
"We started doing our research last night. (We) don't have a lot of information on him, clearly, but we have done our work on figuring out what he does," says Padres manager Mike Shildt. "But, ultimately, it's what we do. Our guys have been facing pitching since they were six, seven, eight, ten years old. Ball's going to come across the plate. We've got to figure out how it comes out, where it comes out, where it's going, and have good at-bats. I'm confident our guys will be ready."
As for King, he comes into his first career postseason start very well-rested. King was scheduled to start the regular season finale in Arizona but the Friars held him back for Game 1, giving him two extra days of preparation. In the 2nd half of the season King has been on a roll, pitching to a 2.15 ERA after the All-Star break the dwindled to a 1.57 mark in four September starts.
Those are the kinds of numbers that made King the centerpiece of the offseason trade that sent Juan Soto to the New York Yankees and started the reimagining of the San Diego Padres.
Perhaps the determining factor in this series will be the venue. Petco Park has turned into a formidable home field advantage. The Friar Faithful set a new single-season attendance record in 2024 and past playoff games in the East Village have been deafening (just ask the Dodgers about the foundation shaking in the 2022 NLDS), which brings us back to Tatis Jr.
He's always fed off the energy of a crowd, be it the ones cheering for him at home or the ones booing him on the road. Those games he played in 2020, during the global pandemic, had nothing but cardboard cutouts in the seats. Now he finally gets to experience the playoffs at a packed Petco Park.
"It's going to be loud, just like it has been all season long," says a smiling Tatis Jr. "I'm just looking forward to the energy, and you know what the fans are going to bring.
First pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 5:38 p.m. The winner of Tuesday's tilt will be one win away from advancing to the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
