San Diego Padres teammates don’t hold back on Fernando Tatis Jr.
By Kevin Henry
There were plenty of reactions from the outside baseball world regarding the news of San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. being suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. However, inside the Padres clubhouse, you didn’t have to read too far between the lines to see the frustration, disappointment, and anger about Tatis being done for the season before he ever stepped into the batter’s box.
San Diego Padres let their feelings be known about the actions of Fernando Tatis Jr.
With Tatis missing the start of the season after suffering a fractured wrist in the offseason, all eyes were on his recent rehab starts and when he might join the San Diego Padres and bring even more star power to a team that traded for Juan Soto, Josh Bell, Brandon Drury, and Josh Hader at the MLB trade deadline. However, with the suspension news that broke on Friday, plans for the Padres changed considerably.
And those changes brought plenty of words from inside the San Diego clubhouse about Tatis and a likely needed change of focus from “me” to “we.” Those words included some thoughts from a pair of Padres pitchers.
Joe Musgrove: "He's a young kid. He's going to learn his lessons or whatnot. But ultimately, I think you got to start showing a little bit of remorse and you got to start showing us that you're committed to it and you want to be here."
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) August 13, 2022
Additionally, fellow infielder Manny Machado sent a reminder that the Padres have put themselves in a position for a postseason spot without Tatis, and will just keep playing without him.
"“He hasn’t been part of the team all year,” Machado said in this USA Today article. “We’ve gotten to this point so far without him. We were waiting for him to get back and hopefully for him to be a spark plug for the team.”"
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Tatis will have plenty of explaining to do to his teammates when he does make his return inside the clubhouse. Until then, it seems that the Padres are ready to move on without him, just like they have done all season.