Even Without Power, Fernando Tatis Jr. Is Finding Ways To Help Padres

[Randy Holt]

As Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres plummet further down the standings of the National League West, it becomes more difficult to find the positives in the offense given its responsibility for said plight. Tatis has played his own role within that as he and his fellow stalwarts in the lineup — namely Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill — have continued to generate production far below the threshold that their career norms and respective skill sets indicate.

Considering his face-of-the-franchise status, Tatis represents the loudest of the struggling entries into the Padre lineup. A player with multiple 6.0 fWAR campaigns to his credit, the right-fielder-turned-second-baseman has just a pair of home runs on the stat sheet this year, and even those didn't start coming until May 30. It's not as if getting the ball over the outfield fence is the sole struggle of Tatis' game this year, either. 

Prior to this season, his lowest ISO over a full season was .178 (a number he posted last season). That's a modest figure coming off a .216 mark in 2024 and an even farther cry from where he was early in his career. There's plenty of context for why he's experienced such a precarious drop on the power side, but even the .073 ISO he's posted thus far in 2026 represents a rather severe regression against any of his previous seasons at this level. With the collective struggling to generate any source of power — the Padres rank 23rd in the league with a .144 team ISO — Tatis' role in its absence sits near the top of the team's list of concerns.

That doesn't mean he has been a total zero at the plate, however. In fact, there are a number of things he's done that merit attention even in the face of such a dwindling power figure.

By wRC+, Tatis has actually been better than league average (103). His line looks rather solid at .285/.349/.358. Even if the power isn't there, he's hitting well enough and walking at a sturdy-enough clip (8.9 percent) to create a steady on-base presence at the top of the order. He's also continued to make quality contact, with a hard-hit rate (53.1 percent) that sits within striking distance of his career average (52.5) and in the 96th percentile. In addition to that consistency, his 74.1 percent contact rate is almost entirely in line with each of the last two years following a 74.4 figure in 2024 and a 74.9 mark last season. 

Tatis has also been a rare bright spot on the situational side. He's hitting .306 with a .370 on-base percentage with runners on base while also going for a .316 average and .388 OBP with runners in scoring position. Each of his strikeout and walk rates trend in positive directions, while his wRC+ sits at 102 and 101 in the two situations, respectively. Even without the power, he's comfortably above where the Padres as a whole are performing in those situations; the team is slashing .238/.316/.400 with runners on and .236/.323/.392 when they're in scoring position. 

Of course, it's difficult for any of this to compensate for the absence of power. If anything, it only serves to make it all the more perplexing considering the positive swing decisions and quality of contact, perhaps driving home the idea that there's something mechanical at play that he simply cannot work his way out of.

In any case, two things can be true: It's important not to lose sight of the fact that there's still a quality player in there (especially in conjunction with his defensive acumen), while also recognizing that Fernando Tatis Jr. needs to find his power stroke in order to fully realize his value to the San Diego Padres.

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