The San Diego Padres would like to see more signs of a power stroke returning for Fernando Tatis Jr.
The next chance for Tatis to muscle up comes in the opener of a three-game series against the host Baltimore Orioles on Friday.
San Diego is coming off a 5-4 victory against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, a contest capped by Tatis’ walk-off home run in the ninth inning. Tatis has been gradually trending in the right direction, though he has only two long balls this year.
“Finally got a result,” Tatis said. “That’s what I’m here for, to bring the spark every day.”
Padres manager Craig Stammen hasn’t lost confidence in Tatis’ ability to produce power numbers. The second baseman/right fielder averaged 25.3 homers in his previous six major league seasons, and he socked a National League-leading 42 in 2021.
“He’s done a great job, staying positive and smiling and being OK with failing sometimes,” Stammen said. “But I think his perseverance has shown lately.”
Tatis was hitting .238 through May 23 but is 27-for-68 (.397) in his past 16 games.
“Just a lot of hard work with the hitting coaches out there,” he said. “It hasn’t been looking that pretty, but we’re sticking together as a group. We keep building that momentum. We’re going to keep grinding, keep going.”
The Padres, who had Thursday off before embarking on what will be a three-city, nine-game road trip, are aiming for their first back-to-back victories since May 22 and 23.
“Not our best, not our worst,” Stammen said of the team’s just-concluded 3-3 homestand. “We’ve had good fight all year. We’re so entrenched in just getting through the day and being positive about the day.”
The Orioles followed a four-game losing streak by winning their last two games against the Seattle Mariners, including a 7-5 victory on Thursday.
The biggest development might have been the return of Adley Rutschman. Out the previous three days because of a hamstring ailment, Rutschman started as the designated hitter on Thursday and drove in three runs with two hits.
“I made it through today,” Rutschman said. “I’m really happy, just because you never know with injuries how they’re going to formulate over days and stuff.”
Right-hander Shane Baz (3-6, 4.09 ERA) will head to the mound for the Orioles on Friday. He has allowed more than one earned run in only one of his past four starts, going 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA in that stretch.
Baz is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in two career outings, both starts, against the Padres.
Orioles reliever Rico Garcia gave up a home run in outings on Sunday and Tuesday, then allowed two hits in two-thirds of an inning on Thursday. Despite the slump, opponents are batting .117 off him this year, and he owns a 1.26 ERA.
“I take it hard whenever I do give up runs, so it’s just one of those things where I just need to be able to flush it and continue to move forward,” Garcia said.
Right-hander Griffin Canning (0-4, 6.34) is the scheduled starter for San Diego. He didn’t factor into the decision in his latest outing, when he allowed one run on three hits in five innings vs. the New York Mets on Saturday.
Lifetime against the Orioles, Canning is 1-4 with a 9.49 ERA in six meetings (five starts).
The Orioles swept three games at San Diego last September in the teams’ only 2025 meetings.
–Field Level Media
