On Fernando Tatis Jr, Mike Shildt, & The Padres-Dodgers Rivalry

Thursday night's game between the San Diego Padres & Los Angeles Dodgers was a chance for the former to salvage a game out of a tough four-game series. Whether it was a Dylan Cease meltdown or a Will Smith walkoff home run after a ninth-inning comeback, the first trio of games was unkind to the Padres. Ahead of the ninth inning on Thursday, however, they held a 5-0 lead with each of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Smith pulled. 

Then, the ninth inning happened. 

Already a testy dynamic in Los Angeles, considering the recent history — and serving as the seventh game in 11 days — between the teams, it was an environment wrought by a raucous crowd intent on making each of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado specifically aware of how they felt about them. The Dodgers had sent reliever Jack Little out for his major league debut in the inning prior. 

Little's command was off from the jump. He walked only one but was having trouble locating his fastball in particular. So, as he hit Fernando Tatis Jr. on a pitch up-and-in, it's hard to imagine any intent. But what was supposed to be a rather smooth path to a sorely needed win for the Padres suddenly became treacherous: 

Manager Mike Shildt was more or less yelling into the void before Dave Roberts caught his attention. Then, of course, Shildt began directing his ire toward his managerial counterpart. From there, it's hard to argue against the idea that it was Roberts escalating the situation by charging out and initiating (notably soft) contact with Shildt. Regardless of the particulars, both were sent to the clubhouse early, while the fans remaining in attendance actively cheering the downing of San Diego's star right fielder.

Things were eventually calmed down before the bottom of the frame. There, Sean Reynolds had zero semblance of command and walked the first two hitters. Rather than wait for an official save situation, bench coach Brian Esposito sent Robert Suárez to the bump to close it out. Struggling with command in his own right, Suárez proceeded to hit Shohei Ohtani on a 3-0 count. He and Esposito were subsequently ejected as well. It's occasionally difficult to navigate intent in these situations, but: 

The Padres argued the ejection, likely pointing to earlier in the series when warnings had been issued but ejections did not take place after another hit batter. Of course, in this instance the warnings were much more recent. And when you're talking about a marquee talent like Ohtani taking the HPB in the box score after Tatis in the top half, then it becomes less arguable. 

Ultimately, Yuki Matsui came to the mound, struggled with command and was eventually able to close it out with a strikeout of winning run Dalton Rushing. The Padres got their win. But almost nothing about it was enjoyable as a result of that ninth inning. On multiple levels. 

Among the most pressing matters is the potential to lose Fernando Tatis Jr. for an extended period of time. Initial imaging came back negative, but Shildt stated that it was in a spot with a lot of bones that complicated that imaging. As such, he's scheduled for more on Friday. As of this writing, we don't know what the potential injury or timeline can look like. A hit by pitch off a wrist is among the most alarming sights that we can witness as observers. One hopes that it's the absolute minimum given his injury history and how integral he is to the Padres turning around this early-summer swoon. 

Then, of course, is the future impact of the theatrics. If you're the Padres, you don't necessarily want the perception to work against you when you're already trying to beat a team like the Dodgers on the scoreboard. I don't think that the takeaways will work against them in this instance, even with Shildt's outburst. Nonetheless, with such an intense situation unfolding, it creates a little bit of anxiety for the next time these two teams match up. Whether that's the Padres maintaining a long memory and starting something that would shift that perception, or if it's any number of high-velocity, low-command Dodger arms doing the same. Either way, that the tension boiled over in the way that it did doesn't always create opportunities for moments of high character. You hope that brains prevail the next time. 

A word on Mike Shildt, though. My concern when he was hired is that he was something of a dud atop the coaching staff. As a strategist, he's fine. But he always came across as kind of a wet blanket that didn't have the chops to create a vibe that a roster like this needs. Those concerns had already been largely quelled throughout the season, as I think there's something to be a said for a manager who keeps it lowkey and lets his players do the talking. But to rise up in defense of your player in the way that he did for Tatis on Thursday does say a lot about the type of skipper the Padres have on their bench. I don't always jive with an old school mentality, but you want a guy who's going to go to bat for your players in the way that he did. 

Ultimately, though, it's hard to find any level of joy in a victory like that. The situation stinks. It makes you feel gross. You don't want players injured via HPB and you don't want any reason for perception to work against you when you're the underdog against a behemoth. And you don't want the carryover that can result in even more nonsense moving forward that isn't healthy, on-field competition.

What you hope comes out of this is a healthy Fernando Tatis Jr.and an angry Padres team able to deploy their temperament in a productive fashion. Maybe it's a springboard. Or maybe it's a win on the stat sheet, but something that becomes more difficult to overcome. 

Either way, I think we're about to learn a lot more about this Padres team than we already thought we knew.