Can Fernando Tatis Jr.’s World Baseball Classic stardom help launch him and the Padres?

PEORIA, Ariz. — Three months earlier than Fernando Tatis Jr. made his long-awaited debut in the World Baseball Classic, the proper fielder hosted a contingent of San Diego Padres officers at his residence in the Dominican Republic. For a newly employed hitting coach, it was an introduction to the mercurial star who will once more affect the trajectory of a complete franchise.

“I didn’t really know him. You never really know how guys are off the field,” stated former big-league outfielder Steven Souza Jr., who joined rookie supervisor Craig Stammen’s employees in November. “Very thoughtful human being. Really smart baseball player. Understands the game, understands what goes wrong, what goes right, how to get better.

“I feel he cares deeply. You know, you do not possibly see all the work he places in off the area, however he desires to be actually good. I feel that is what I received (from the go to). He desires to be actually good, and he is aware of the issues that it takes to be actually good, and he is displaying that proper now.”

Souza was speaking Thursday at the Peoria Sports Complex, where the Padres have spent the past week tracking the exploits of Tatis and third baseman Manny Machado from afar. Wednesday night in Miami, the duo helped a loaded Dominican Republic club emerge into the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals. Tatis punctuated a win over Team Venezuela with a resounding home run and an epic bat flip.

His tournament line: six hits in 13 at-bats, two home runs, nine RBIs.

“I actually got off the phone with him, like, an hour ago,” Souza said. “I simply advised him how impressed I used to be, how a lot enjoyable it appears to be like like he is having. … And that is what I need for him. I need him to come back to the park each day and simply take pleasure in coming right here, as a result of when Tati’s having fun with what he is doing, A, he is an unbelievable particular person to be round. And then, B, he is electrical on the area.”

The Padres are aware that Tatis sustaining his current level is unrealistic, at least throughout a 162-game marathon. The WBC is a sprint by comparison, a boisterous display of national pride, a showcase largely waged against inferior pitching.

Yet, after a 2025 season in which Tatis fell short of lofty expectations, the Padres are focusing on the positives.

“The at-bat quality has been off the charts,” Souza said. “He’s taking his walks. He’s hitting hanging sliders. He’s hitting 98 (mph pitches). He’s simply protecting a bunch of various pitches. His (swing) path is actually good.”

“Hitting is hard no matter who you’re facing, so to see him with the energy that he’s bringing to the plate, the swings that he’s taking, we feel really good with where he’s at right now,” Stammen stated.

He added, laughing: “My only message to him is to save a few for the season.”

For the outfielder and these round him, Tatis left loads on the desk final 12 months. He made his third All-Star Game, collected his second Platinum Glove and recorded the sort of underlying metrics that urged he remained amongst the sport’s most proficient hitters. He additionally completed with 25 residence runs and an .814 OPS, each numbers effectively off his pre-steroid-suspension peak.

Now, the 27-year-old is underneath the tutelage of a former opponent not far faraway from his personal enjoying profession.

“He’s really good at learning. I think he learned a lot last year about what he can do,” Souza, 36, stated. “He definitely learned how to control the strike zone, because his walk rate jumped through the roof. And I think it’s just combining how he does that with the things he’s done in the past. So far, from the time that I saw him in the DR to these last couple games in the WBC, it’s been unbelievably consistent.”

Notably, Tatis has returned to a squarer batting stance. Last season, he experimented with the most open setup of his profession. It appeared to work at first; Tatis belted eight residence runs with a 1.011 OPS earlier than May.

Then, for many of the summer season, he struggled amid fixed tinkering. He lamented an incapability to persistently put the ball in the air. His barrel price sank to a profession low.

“He just felt like he was trying to search for different things at times,” Souza stated. “I think on top of that, last year was, like, his ability to just compete in the game and figure out a way to be productive when he wasn’t feeling good. So, in the offseason, (the focus) was just staying inside the ball, direction to center field.

“He’s received lightning arms. His hips transfer at an unbelievable velocity. So, it is nearly ensuring his path is direct to the ball and his route is working to heart area, and then simply letting his expertise make up for the remainder of it.”

Souza is familiar with the challenges of producing against modern pitching. A former top prospect, he hit .229 with a .729 OPS over parts of eight seasons with six big-league clubs. I have retired less than four years ago. He impressed people throughout the industry last season while working for the Tampa Bay Rays as a special adviser for pro scouting and hitting research.

Still, in the fickle world of hitting instruction, there is no guarantee Souza will last. Over the past five seasons, the Padres have employed four lead hitting coaches. Souza, at least, can bring a fresh perspective.

“I just thought that there was just some small things that you could do to just make him consistent, because he has these stretches,” Souza said of Tatis. “He had them even final 12 months, earlier in the 12 months, the place he is otherworldly, and that is who he’s. And so it is nearly honing in the misses and, I feel, giving him a template of the place he must be day in and time out, as a substitute of watching thus far off.

“When he closes off his front side, he’s able to stay through the ball a lot better instead of pulling off. But Tati’s like an artist, and I don’t want to limit him to the creativity that he has in the box, because that’s what makes him really good. And so if he comes one day and he’s like, ‘I need to stand open,’ and he’s got a reason, and we can have a discussion because he’s a very human being — I’m all for it.

“We’re coming alongside him as a employees to say, like, ‘Why are you doing this? Is there a purpose? Does that make sense? Here’s some concepts. You know, the thought you’ve got received is actually good.’ And permitting that freedom and simply be sort of a sounding board so we are able to maintain in the proper route continuously.”

Friday, Tatis and Machado will face South Korea in the WBC quarterfinals. Team Dominican Republic, based mostly on its dominance in pool play, is a well-liked choose to advance all the approach to the championship sport. Such an final result would have San Diego’s stars again in spring coaching no ahead of Wednesday, with the season opener in opposition to the Detroit Tigers barely every week away.

In the meantime, the Padres will proceed watching every of their at-bats from afar.

“I don’t think it’s so much of being able to sustain that energy (after the WBC). That’s going to be impossible, right? Like, it’s a playoff tournament,” Souza stated. “It’s more just, is the routine the same? We’re not going to worry about the results, because we know that when the lights turn on, those guys are going to show up. It’s just about making sure the process, the routine is the same, and making sure the at-bat quality just continues as they go into the season.”