Padres Press Clips Friday, January 18, 2019
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Padres Press Clips Friday, January 18, 2019 Article Source Author Pg. ‘This kid is getting ready to open some eyes’: Fernando Tatis Jr. is impressing The Athletic Lin 2 those around him — including his father Padres roster review: Craig Stammen SD Union Tribune Sanders 9 Padres sign RHP Carlos Torres, invite to big league camp SD Union Tribune Sanders 12 Inbox: Who will start in Padres' crowded outfield? MLB.com Cassavell 13 Around the horn: Padres face tricky 3B situation MLB.com Cassavell 16 30 best defensive prospects -- 1 for each team MLB.com Callis/Mayo/Rosenbaum 18 These prospects could be MLB's Top 5 in 2021 MLB.com Mayo 19 A.J. Preller Says San Diego Padres Are On The Lookout For Free Agents Forbes Bloom 22 And Are Ready To Seize The Day #PadresOnDeck: Mejía One of MLB’s Premier Catcher Prospects FriarWire Lafferty 25 50 Moments — First Padre Pitcher to Draw Attention FriarWire Center 27 Top 50 Individual Seasons FriarWire Center 30 Chihuahuas name Rodriguez field manager, coaching staff return El Paso Inc. Staff 32 1 ‘This kid is getting ready to open some eyes’: Fernando Tatis Jr. is impressing those around him — including his father By Dennis Lin At Estadio Tetelo Vargas, one might compare the intimate confines to Wrigley Field, where Waveland Avenue hugs the Chicago landmark’s northern edge. Except everything feels closer together at the venue named after a famous Dominican. No such street separates the ballpark from the rest of San Pedro de Macorís, the birthplace of Sammy Sosa, Robinson Canó and dozens of other major leaguers. Stadium and community have been intertwined since 1959. Houses scrape up against the outfield walls, leaving the crowds to squeeze into the grandstand. A particularly well-struck drive could dent a rooftop. These days, those in attendance harbor new hope. The snakebitten local team, Estrellas Orientales, is five wins from its first championship in half a century. And a young shortstop who sprouted in this city of more than 200,000 is practically the mayor. “Everybody in the grandstand has known him since he was a kid,” said Enrique Rojas, a longtime ESPN reporter and leading expert in Dominican baseball. “He looks like he’s playing in the yard.” Fernando Tatis Jr. may be the Padres’ best prospect and No. 2 in all of the minor leagues — some would argue his case over Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s — but El Bebo, as he is affectionately nicknamed, will always belong to San Pedro, “The Cradle of Shortstops.” He grew up watching his father play winter ball for their hometown team. Fernando Tatis Sr. succeeded in both that league and the majors. The Tatises still live an eight-minute drive from the stadium. “I think my love of the game started from those days,” Tatis Jr., speaking by phone, said from his home. “That was the seed where everything started.” A city’s adoration has reached new peaks. Now, Tatis Sr. pulls the strings for Estrellas as the Dominican Winter League’s Manager of the Year. His son is 2 the MVP of the playoff semifinals and the club’s most magnetic player. On Thursday night, the best-of-nine championship series begins at Estadio Tetelo Vargas. San Pedro has seen Canó and many others take up its cause, but the last time Estrellas celebrated a national title, in 1968, Rico Carty was the best player. The fans’ hunger is palpable. Only five wins separate them from glory, and their shortstop already has an MVP award. “It’s like a dream come true,” Tatis Jr. said. “Being able to be next to my dad and being able to do something special for my hometown and seeing so many happy people, how emotional it can be, I can’t describe it.” They filled the streets in San Pedro well past midnight on Monday. Hours earlier, Estrellas had advanced to the postseason finals with a victory in Santo Domingo. Then, after popping bottles in the clubhouse, they rode into San Pedro as heroes. Tatis Jr., who recently turned 20, documented the jubilation on his Instagram account. The scene had been even more raucous on Jan. 10. Eight days after his birthday, with two on and no outs in the ninth inning of a tie game, Tatis Jr. dug into the batter’s box in his home ballpark. Tatis Sr., the team’s manager, signaled for a bunt. His No. 2 hitter complied. Twice, however, Tatis Jr. failed to move the runners. Down 0-2, he faced no choice but to gear up for contact. The third pitch from Tigres del Licey’s Jairo Asencio, who has played in four big-league seasons, met a resounding demise. When Tatis Jr. saw the resulting laser clear the home-run barrier in left field, he flung his bat skyward as if he were flipping a table. Then, as the ballpark lost its collective mind, El Bebo galloped around the bases like a caffeinated toddler, all the way into the arms of his equally euphoric teammates. By the next morning, media outlets around the world had hailed it as the next great bat flip. A highly unscientific survey revealed only pockets of disapproval. What did the father of the walk-off hero, the manager of the winning team, think of the flourish gone viral? 3 “Crap,” Tatis Sr. said, laughing but serious. “I’m old-school, and I don’t like it at all. All my career, I tried to play this game the right way, always respecting everyone, every pitcher.” The 44-year-old added: “But I think baseball has been changing, so I’ve got to accept it. I’ve got to accept that these young kids are changing the game. I’m going to let him enjoy his time, because when he strikes out, the pitchers sometimes (celebrate) here, too.” And Tatis Jr.? “It just happened in the moment,” he said. “It was an important game for us to get on track to the finals. When I hit the ball I just got really excited.” Multiple generations can agree on at least one thing: In a league typically ruled by experienced players, a boy exiting his teens has played like a man. Tatis Jr. already had cemented his place among the game’s elite prospects in 2018. As one of the youngest players in Double A, he hit .286/.355/.507 with 16 home runs and 16 stolen bases. Then he broke his left thumb sliding into a bag. The injury required season-ending surgery in late July. “I was pretty disappointed because I was on a pretty big track, to hopefully finish in the big leagues at the end of the year,” said Tatis Jr., who also impressed in a brief stint with Estrellas last winter. “For two weeks, I was pretty sad. But when I talked to my dad and a couple people, they said, ‘You’re going to be fine. You can only get better from here.’” Whole again, Tatis Jr. has returned to showcasing a rare combination of plate coverage and other gifts. Across 23 regular-season games, he led Estrellas with a .263/.379/.488 slash line, homered three times and, at 6-foot-4, played airtight defense. He provided speed as well, consistently logging first-to-home times in the range of 4.2 seconds. One evaluator clocked him at 4.05 on a jailbreak ground ball; only the fastest right-handed hitters cover the first 90 feet in four seconds or less. “I think a lot of people don’t realize what kind of impact runner this guy is,” said Chris Kemp, the Padres’ field coordinator and international scouting director. “And defensively, I think there’s no question for us. This guy looks like a real shortstop. He’s able to shrink the field and make all the routine plays and then flash you a Derek Jeter-type play out of left field.” 4 Tatis Jr. continued to stand out in the semifinals. He hit .254/.365/.476 with three home runs and six stolen bases. Estrellas finished the 18-game round- robin in first place, and will face Toros del Este for the league crown. Tatis Jr.’s statistics — solid but not blinding — should come with a few caveats. For one, the Dominican Winter League, the top setting for offseason competition, contains an unparalleled array of player styles and matchups. Starting pitchers often cycle through a lineup only once or twice and, with large rosters at their disposal, managers are permitted to carry entirely different bullpens from game to game. Many of the participants on either side of the ball are seasoned professionals, at the major-league level or otherwise. “In the Dominican League, they love breaking balls,” Rojas said. “If you are young, they kill you, man.” The list of overmatched newcomers is long. Last winter, Guerrero Jr. hit .211/.276/.278 for Leones del Escogido (while Tatis hit .246/.358/.386). More than two decades ago, a 19-year-old named Alex Rodriguez hit just .175, also for Escogido. Which makes what Tatis Jr. is doing, at his age, something of an outlier. In a lineup also featuring Miguel Sanó and Yasmany Tomás (Canó is expected to play in the finals), the manager’s son has occupied either the second or third spots based on merit. The sample size remains limited, but the impression has been memorable. Thirty-eight out of 44 media members voted Tatis Jr. the league’s most valuable player in the semifinals. “This kid is getting ready to open some eyes,” Tatis Sr.