Fernando Tatis Jr. wasn’t the only Padres star who lit up Thursday’s season opener.
Jackson Merrill earned his paycheck, too, as did Manny “Speed Demon” Machado.
But what Tatis Jr. did for the offense gets first honors and contributed plenty to the 7-4 victory against the Braves before a sun-splashed capacity crowd that very much enjoyed itself in the East Village.
Batting first in the lineup after never batting there last season, Tatis reached base in three of four chances and scored twice.
And the 26-year-old veteran showed he now has two healthy legs after being limited by a damaged leg bone last year.
Although it was the season’s first game, Tatis looked so comfortable as a hitter that when it was suggested later he’s already locked into peak hitting form, he agreed.
“Yeah, yeah. Feel pretty good,” he said, smiling.
Looking very Zen and somewhat Gwynn, the slugger stroked three singles in going to right field, center field and left field. Two of those one-baggers came against Braves ace Chris Sale, the 2024 winner of the National League’s Cy Young Award.
Exciting stuff, if you buy, as I do, that the solid singles often portend doubles, triples and home runs.
On the basepaths, Tatis tested out the right leg that limited him last year due to a stress reaction to the thigh bone.
It checked out fine, evidenced by two thefts of third base.
Manager Mike Shildt doesn’t need advice on how to make out the lineup, but it would seem Tatis will fill the leadoff spot often against several left-handed pitchers.
The primary leadoff man last year, left-handed Luis Arraez, has hit significantly better against right-handers in his career. Arraez said he enjoyed batting in the second spot Thursday behind the right-handed speedster.
“I loved that — because he’s an electric guy,” said Arraez, who batted .317 with a .345 on-base percentage atop the lineup last year, following his arrival in early May via a trade. “As soon as he gets on base, I know he’s stealing the base. So, I’ve got more chances to get RBIs. I’ll be excited to (hit) behind him. He’s got a lot of energy.”
The Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. steals third base with Manny Machado at bat during the 5th inning against the Atlanta Braves during their Opening Day at Petco Park on Thursday, March 27, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Switch-hitter Jurickson Profar’s astounding greatness in the leadoff role last year further argued against pushing an injury-reduced Tatis Jr. atop the lineup, lefties or not. Profar got on base at a .451 clip in his 19 games there, batting .380 with five doubles and four home runs.
Like most position-player stars, Tatis can shine in any lineup spot, but he’s been extra-good at leadoff. He had a .309 batting average, .374 on-base rate and .599 slugging percentage in 161 starts entering Thursday.
It’s rare for a hitter to acknowledge he’s locked in after just one game.
Then again, a lot of work preceded that one game.
Tatis said off-season workouts with his father, Fernando, a former big league hitter, planted the seeds that led to Thursday’s success.
“We kind of put our heads together, and bumped into each other because of the dad and son relationship — but, finally, I’m listening to him in that area and am really seeing good results,” he said.
Fernando Tatis Sr.’s emphasis related to mechanics and being on time. Junior didn’t need an alarm clock as hitter Thursday. In his first at-bat of 2025, he served Sale’s fastball to right field as smoothly as if he were taking batting practice. He pulled Sale’s slider, which is the lefty’s best pitch, for a single. Sending pinch-runner Jason Heyward from first base to third base in the decisive four-run seventh inning, Tatis peppered reliever Hector Neris’ sinker to center field.
Merrill was sharp, too.
His two-run single in his first at-bat, off a two-out, 1-2 slider came against a pitcher in Sale who’d held lefties to a .202 batting average in his career, striking them out in 34 percent of the at-bats.
Machado didn’t let the young guys have all the fun.
He stole two bases. One came via a double-steal with fellow old dude Xander Bogaerts.
It was that kind of opener for the Padres.
No one complained that starting pitcher Michael King, who was dealt his shortest outing (2 2/3 innings) in brown and gold, did not bring to mind Randy Jones’ opening day start against the Braves almost five decades ago. Jones treated a Friday night crowd of 44,278 at San Diego Stadium to a complete game, beginning his Cy Young-winning season of 1976 in which he would log 315 innings.
San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. throws from the outfield against the Atlanta Braves during Opening Day of the 2025 season at Petco Park on Thursday, March 27, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Showing himself back to full speed, Tatis displayed to the announced crowd of 45,508 that his career-high total of 29 stolen bases may be in jeopardy this season.
“It’s a huge part of my game, it’s one of my favorite parts of the game,” he said. “I really missed it.”
Baseball is back, and so is Tatis.
Originally Published: March 27, 2025 at 7:17 PM PDT
