Were it not for San Diego Padres rookie shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. missing more than a month due to injury, he likely would be the most talked-about youngster in the sport. Tatis entered Sunday hitting .318/.377/.573 (152 OPS+) with eight homers in 42 games.
On Sunday, Tatis then went and did something ridiculous: tagging up and scoring on what amounted to an infield fly:
Take a look at this utter nonsense:
WOW! @Tatis_Jr scores from 3rd on a pop up to the 2nd baseman! The call was reviewed and overturned!@Padres | @MLBonFOX pic.twitter.com/SNhrarepTZ
— FOX Sports San Diego (@FOXSportsSD) June 23, 2019
Tatis displayed "the confidence of a man whose father hit two grand slams in an inning," as our own Stephen Pianovich quipped
To take that risk is something -- the Padres stood to have runners on second and third with two outs in the inning. To then succeed is something else entirely. Had Tatis failed, we'd probably be discussing the game-theory-related merits of attempting to run in unconventional situations. Instead, he proved the point. The lesson: never assume competency from your peers.
As for the Pittsburgh Pirates, woof. No wonder they're playing at a 60-win pace in June.
