Fernando Tatis Jr. makes a run for Padres roster

Padres decision makers have for almost the entirety of spring training downplayed what Fernando Tatis Jr. is doing and brushed aside any talk of what he might offer the team at this time.

Their admiration and great hopes are tempered by the reality of their top prospect’s youth and a desire to bring him along in a way that is best for his long-term development, not to mention their long-term finances.

They have talked about the 20-year-old with all the tools in terms of what he will one day be in the major leagues.

Until Friday night, until Tatis took it to a level where only special players who do special things generally play, until an important reality couldn’t be denied anymore.

Tatis, who also hits line drive home runs and rips doubles to the gap with a seemingly simple flick of his wrists, on Friday beat out two infield singles in a game against the Diamondbacks. After the first of those, he stole two bases and practically walked home on a hard base hit. After the second, he scored from first base on a routine single.

“What he did wins baseball games,” manager Andy Green said. “That’s ultimately what it’s all about.”

Yes, he went there.

Green used the ‘W’ word when talking about Tatis.

Winning is what the Padres say the unequivocal goal is this season — in a way it hasn’t been in a while.

So if Tatis has proved he is a difference maker, then perhaps 15 days (the amount of time he would have to stay in the minors to avoid accruing a year of service time) is too long — especially if there is the belief he plays on a plane where the blend of intuition and talent essentially alter reality and it’s OK if he blows up an inning or two.

“He’s definitely on the aggressive side,” Green said. “He’s got good feel. He’s going to make mistakes on the bases. When you watch guys like Javy Baez run the bases, if you’re trying to eliminate the mistakes you’re going to lose days like this. Days like this are really, really special. When he wins a game for you on the basepaths, you’re going to have to live with an occasional time where he’s picked off, and you’re going to have to understand his instincts are going to win you more games throughout the course of time.”

That’s kind of a big deal, to be compared to one of the game’s most dynamic players. And without a qualifier.

Particularly since Green and others in the organization recently have been reticent in their praise of Tatis.

There is no doubt they believe in him every bit as much as anyone else. He is their prized minor league system’s crown jewel, acquired from the White Sox in 2016 before he’d played a professional game. They believe he will be transcendent at some point.

No need to rush him, they say. The implication has been that there is more of a need to slow him down.

They know he knows he is exceptional.

He also knows what it is they’re doing.

“Of course,” Tatis said with a smile. “It’s part of the game. It’s part of the business. That’s how it is.”

The Padres play their final Cactus League game here Sunday against the Cubs. Decisions will continue to be finalized as the team spends Monday and Tuesday in Seattle for a pair of exhibitions in advance of Thursday’s season opener against the Giants at Petco Park.

It seems unlikely Tatis forced the Padres to change course Friday when he willed those runs.

Eric Hosmer was on the top step yelling and Manny Machado jumped the dugout railing after Tatis reached in to tag the plate as he dove past it and the umpire signaled safe.

But it’s not like Green or General Manager A.J. Preller or the men who one day might be faced with the decision to commit something like a half-billion dollars to Tatis were surprised by what he did.

By keeping Tatis in the minors until the 16^th day of the season, they would assure he does not achieve a full year of service time. If he is the player they think he is, the move to delay his free agency could put off a major payday and/or give them more time to work out a contract before he reaches the market following the 2025 season.

The Padres have said they will begin the season with the players who give them the best chance to win. They have also acknowledged they will weigh any continuing need for Tatis to develop. They have pointed out it was just Jan. 2 that he ceased being a teenager. They have mentioned his lack of experience above low-A, that a fractured finger ended his 2018 season at Double-A a little more than a month early. They have alluded to his penchant for slow starts, such as how his batting .327/.400/.572 over the final 64 games was preceded by his batting .177/.231/.333 in last season’s first 24 games.

Green also said at the start of this spring training that, “He’s got every opportunity to force our hand by the way he plays.”

Tatis is hitting .268/.340/.520 with three doubles, two home runs and four walks this spring. His strikeout rate (13 in 50 plate appearances) is on par with many Padres who will be regular starters.

In his past four starts, Tatis has six hits and a walk in 17 trips to the plate. He has scored five of the seven times he has reached base. Going back seven starts, he is 8-for-25 with six runs.

At shortstop, he won’t provide the automatic out Freddy Galvis did on balls hit within a comfortable radius. Few do. But Tatis’ ability to turn hits into outs due to his range and arm is even more rare. He is undoubtedly good enough that he makes erstwhile shortstop Machado a comfortable third baseman.

In back-to-back games last week he made three super-quick, super-fluid tags that helped steal outs. When he did it twice in a game against the Brewers, that was the first time this spring Green allowed a little gushing.

“Couple guys in the game that can do it,” Green said. “… It’s special. It’s a special skill.”

Just like many of his skills.

“He can change the outcome of a game with his legs, with his defense, with his power,” Hosmer said of the player many teammates call “Tati.”

Catcher Chris Stewart, who has played 12 season in the majors, immediately also invoked the name of Baez, the Cubs star.

“Only guy I can think of,” Stewart said. “He’s got it. I call Javy Baez the wild card. You never know what he’s going to do. He’s got the ability to do it, and he pulls it off the majority of the time. It drives the defense crazy. … If you have a guy who is willing push the envelope it can pay off big. I’m glad Tati is on my team and I don’t have to worry about him. He’s got all the tools on the baseball field. It’s going to be impressive to see when he puts it all together.”

Hosmer recalled Lorenzo Cain racing around from first base on Hosmer’s single to score what would be the winning run in Game 6 of 2015 American League Championship Series, clinching the Royals’ second straight trip to the World Series, which they would win.

“That’s the last time I saw that,” Hosmer said. “The most impressive thing is he did it on his own. The one with Cain, the coach just keeps sending him. But (Tatis), you could see the play develop. You can see him turn around and as soon the center field went to lob it, he just turned turned a different gear and did something no one in this room can do.”

Tatis was running on the pitch that Austin Hedges lined into center field and easily made it to third base, paused just enough to see the soft throw in to the cut-off man beyond second base with his back to the plate. Tatis took off for home, on his way passing coach Glenn Hoffman pointing at third base.

“In those moments, everything slows down for me,” Tatis said. “I see everything in slow motion. It’s just something that comes to me.”

Whether his major league debut comes Thursday or sometime soon thereafter, Tatis seems to have perspective. He also believes this:

“I’m ready.”

If the Padres come to him Sunday or in the days following and tell him he has to wait, he said he would need to ask questions as to why.

“Then they will tell me,” he said, “and I will work for it.”