San Diego Padres Hitter Of The Month: March & April

[Randy Holt]

Is this even a question?

With the month of April coming to a close, it's time to examine the San Diego Padres' most impressive player on the positional side. Given the rash of injuries the team has experienced in recent weeks, however, it leaves us with fairly slim pickings. 

Jackson Merrill has been out for nearly three weeks. Jake Cronenworth for only slightly less. Luis Arráez missed a week. In between Injured List stints, the Padres are still waiting for Manny Machado to find a power stroke, hoping that Gavin Sheets will get his strikeout rate a little clearer of 30 percent, and praying that Xander Bogaerts will provide any offensive value that doesn't involve a walk. 

Which leaves us with only one option: Fernando Tatis Jr. 

Don't get it twisted, though. That Fernando Tatis Jr. is our March & April Hitter of the Month by default is hardly the result of the context permeating the rest of the roster. He's been legitimately excellent. 

Only two players have been more valuable this season than Tatis by fWAR: Aaron Judge & Corbin Carroll. And while Judge has the edge on the rest of the league by a wide margin, Carroll's 2.1 figure as of this writing only narrowly beats out Tatis' 2.0. Assuming his new role in the leadoff spot, he's thrived in virtually every aspect through the season's first month-plus. 

Some adjustments to the swing have allowed Tatis to lean into the pull side a bit more, resulting in more power, especially at home. His line thus far includes an average of .346, an on-base percentage of .415, and an OPS of 1.040. Each of those figures is in the league's top seven. He also carries an ISO of .279 and a wRC+ of 188. That latter figure has him as the league's fourth-best hitter. 

The rediscovery of the power stroke is an important component as Tatis reestablishes his status among the game's brightest stars. His average exit velocity (95.1) sits in the 97th percentile, and his 19.3 Barrel% checks in at the 95th. The approach hasn't changed, but he's making more contact (particularly inside the strike zone). When you combine those factors, the uptick in power output is hardly surprising. 

But he's also reclaiming some activity on the basepaths. Tatis' seven steals rank 12th in the league. His Baserunning Runs (BsR) from FanGraphs (0.9) has him in the league's top 30. While it's been a bit more in vain given the absence of consistent offense behind him (wrought by the team's injury woes), he's simply provided value in every possible area of offense. 

It's a crucial tone to set, both for Tatis Jr, the player, and the Padres at large. Coming off a season in which he was quite good, but held back by the stress fracture, there hadn't yet been a stretch since the 2022 debacle where we felt like he was on his way back to the player he was in the three years prior.

It appears that's changed. For the San Diego Padres, nobody was better to start the year. And it's not particularly close.

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