SEATTLE -- Over the last month, Fernando Tatis Jr. has been a perfectly useful leadoff man. In the calendar month leading up to Monday’s 9-6 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, Tatis had reached base at a .406 clip. He’d been a constant threat on the bases. The Padres were 18-9 in that span.
Then again, he didn’t look much like Fernando Tatis Jr. during that stretch. Namely, because he wasn’t hitting home runs.
That changed on Monday night. Tatis snapped the longest homerless drought of his career at 128 plate appearances with his 416-foot drive just to the right of straightaway center field.
“Obviously, it felt good,” Tatis said. “Hopefully I can do it again. Very soon.”
The swing was trademark Tatis -- violent and compact. He watched the ball for a few moments and dropped his bat with his left hand. A sigh of relief, perhaps.
“That’s what I’m capable of doing,” Tatis said. “So, ‘How can I stay consistent in that area?’ is going to be the big factor.”
It probably goes without saying that the Padres need Tatis as a power threat. Their 115 home runs are second fewest in the Majors, ahead of only Pittsburgh. That includes the four home runs they hit on Monday night in Seattle, one shy of their season high.
Just about everything else on the Padres’ offense works. They’re elite at making contact and putting the ball in play. They run the bases well and manufacture runs. But the power has been lacking.
To some extent, that’s a creation of the ballpark they call home. Petco Park has notoriously suppressed home-run totals through the years.
“We know there’s power on this team,” said Gavin Sheets, who homered in the second inning and just missed another in the eighth. “A little bit is playing to our ballpark. You can’t go into Petco and try to hit home runs. … We’re an offense that’s built to our ballpark and has a really good, solid approach. We have plenty of power up and down this lineup.”
No, these Padres are not built to slug. But given their personnel, they should rank higher than 29th in homers -- probably significantly higher. The most obvious source of that additional power would be Tatis.
Then again, the Padres don’t want Tatis changing much else about who he’s been. Entering play Monday, his 13.8% walk rate was easily a career high and his 17.9% strikeout rate was easily a career low.
“That would be huge,” said manager Mike Shildt when asked about a potential power surge from Tatis. “But, again, I love his at-bats. I love what he’s doing. His swing decisions have been elite almost all year.”
Tatis’ two-run home run was the last of three Padres homers in the second inning, their first three-homer inning of the season. They grabbed a quick 4-1 lead -- and then quickly relinquished it. Starter JP Sears allowed four runs and exited in the fourth. Reliever David Morgan, who has largely been excellent in the middle innings this season, allowed a career-high five runs.
The Padres did their best to claw back. Ramón Laureano continued his red-hot start to his Padres tenure with a home run leading off the seventh. Then, with two men aboard in the eighth, Sheets launched a towering, majestic drive down the right-field line, headed toward the pole. It snuck foul by inches.
“Fair until the last second,” Sheets said. “It sucked. It was a really good feeling, and then a really, really bad feeling really quick.”
There would be no fifth home run for the Padres. But their four homers were the most in a loss since Sept. 21, 2021. All season, they’ve only gone deep four times in the same game three times.
And obviously, this wasn’t the result the Padres wanted. They fell a game back of the Dodgers in the National League West race. (Not to mention, their chances of a comeback in the Vedder Cup were dashed.)
But if Monday was a sign that the Padres might be tapping into their power, it could be a hugely important trend.
As for Tatis, well, it had been a while since he last went deep, on July 24 in St. Louis. As he rounded third base at T-Mobile Park on Monday, he went light on his signature stutter step. After the game, it was pointed out to him.
“I probably forgot how to do it,” Tatis said.