Part of Tatis' appeal goes beyond statistics and reflects the emotion and with which he playsGETTY IMAGES
Padres SS Fernando Tatis Jr. has played "better than everyone else" in baseball since MLB's season began on July 24, and as much as the sport "fulfills him, the game needs him even more," according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com. Tatis' "excellence isn't purely statistical," as his home runs are "majestic, his bat flips righteous, his drip undeniable." MLB spent "much of the first three months of the pandemic fighting players over money." As the league "tries to endure amid coronavirus outbreaks, the best antidote to its predilection for self-immolation is a player like Tatis." Watching Tatis play is a "trip in a time machine, only not to professional baseball's past." It is a "direct line to childhood, to countless hours spent with friends doing all the things coaches warned you never to do." Tatis is the "closest thing in baseball to appointment viewing, well worth the late-night caffeine hit for East Coasters." He is "effortlessly cool in a sport that screams suburban dad." Padres 1B Eric Hosmer: "There's no question, he's the face of this franchise. And I think he's gonna be the face of this game very, very soon" (ESPN.com, 8/10).
