[h=1]Fantasy baseball: What to expect from Fernando Tatis Jr.[/h]
ESPN PLUS ($ MATERIAL)
[h=1]San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller is all-in on 2019.[/h]
After signing one of the premier free agents of this generation in Manny Machado this winter, the Padres' decision maker is wasting no time in surrounding his franchise player with the best talent the organization has to offer. In addition to young pitchers Chris Paddack and potentially Logan Allen or Cal Quantrill in the Opening Day rotation, Fernando Tatis Jr., one of the consensus top-three prospects in all of baseball, will reportedly be in a big league uniform to start the 2019 season.
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Preller has always been a bit of a maverick -- sometimes to his and the club's detriment -- but with Luis Urias and Ian Kinsler up the middle, the Padres already had a decent middle infield set up for the year. Add in Tatis' premature end to 2018 due to injury, his inexperience at the upper levels and service time suppression and it seemed defensible if the 20-year-old spent most, if not all, of 2019 in El Paso, Texas. Instead, San Diego's general manager has determined that Tatis is already one of the best 25 players available to him and that he is worthy of a shot ... at least for now.
[h=3]What can he do?[/h]Tatis can do a lot. He has 70-grade power (on the traditional 20 to 80 grading scale), is at least 60 with the hit tool, packaged with above-average speed and all the ability in the world to stick at shortstop defensively. He did strike out 28 percent of the time in 394 plate appearances at Double-A. That said, roughly a third of those punchouts came in April -- the month in which he struggled to hit out of the gate. In fact, Tatis Jr. has somewhat of a track record as a slow starter. Even if he strikes out a quarter of the time in the show and hits closer to .270 than .290, we're talking about a shortstop who will produce 30 or more home runs, an equal number of doubles, double-digit steals and what should be a bunch of runs in a balanced and extremely fun lineup.
[h=3]What to expect[/h]As mentioned above, Tatis has gotten off to slow starts in the past. Making the jump to the majors should make a fast start only more difficult, but even if he doesn't set the world on fire immediately and the Padres stay the course, his bat tends to heat up with the weather. He should contribute in all five standard categories with game-altering ability in terms of power at a premium position on the diamond and in your lineup. If you do not have Tatis in a dynasty format, it's too late for you. If you do, Merry Christmas. In redraft formats, he is a must-add right now. Even if he struggles and is sent down at some point, the Padres' willingness to add him right now means he is firmly in play for all of 2019.
ESPN PLUS ($ MATERIAL)
[h=1]San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller is all-in on 2019.[/h]
After signing one of the premier free agents of this generation in Manny Machado this winter, the Padres' decision maker is wasting no time in surrounding his franchise player with the best talent the organization has to offer. In addition to young pitchers Chris Paddack and potentially Logan Allen or Cal Quantrill in the Opening Day rotation, Fernando Tatis Jr., one of the consensus top-three prospects in all of baseball, will reportedly be in a big league uniform to start the 2019 season.
<offer style="box-sizing: border-box;"></offer>
Preller has always been a bit of a maverick -- sometimes to his and the club's detriment -- but with Luis Urias and Ian Kinsler up the middle, the Padres already had a decent middle infield set up for the year. Add in Tatis' premature end to 2018 due to injury, his inexperience at the upper levels and service time suppression and it seemed defensible if the 20-year-old spent most, if not all, of 2019 in El Paso, Texas. Instead, San Diego's general manager has determined that Tatis is already one of the best 25 players available to him and that he is worthy of a shot ... at least for now.
[h=3]What can he do?[/h]Tatis can do a lot. He has 70-grade power (on the traditional 20 to 80 grading scale), is at least 60 with the hit tool, packaged with above-average speed and all the ability in the world to stick at shortstop defensively. He did strike out 28 percent of the time in 394 plate appearances at Double-A. That said, roughly a third of those punchouts came in April -- the month in which he struggled to hit out of the gate. In fact, Tatis Jr. has somewhat of a track record as a slow starter. Even if he strikes out a quarter of the time in the show and hits closer to .270 than .290, we're talking about a shortstop who will produce 30 or more home runs, an equal number of doubles, double-digit steals and what should be a bunch of runs in a balanced and extremely fun lineup.
[h=3]What to expect[/h]As mentioned above, Tatis has gotten off to slow starts in the past. Making the jump to the majors should make a fast start only more difficult, but even if he doesn't set the world on fire immediately and the Padres stay the course, his bat tends to heat up with the weather. He should contribute in all five standard categories with game-altering ability in terms of power at a premium position on the diamond and in your lineup. If you do not have Tatis in a dynasty format, it's too late for you. If you do, Merry Christmas. In redraft formats, he is a must-add right now. Even if he struggles and is sent down at some point, the Padres' willingness to add him right now means he is firmly in play for all of 2019.
