Fernando Tatis Jr. is the engine driving the Padres, baseball's hottest team, into NLDS showdown vs. Brewers

After a brutal first half, Tatis and the Padres are riding a Pacific Ocean-sized wave of vibes into Milwaukee

Oct 2, 2026 at 12:34 pm ET • 5 min read

After finishing the regular season by winning 17 of their final 20 games, the San Diego Padres pretty well embarrassed the Chicago Cubs in a two-game sweep in Petco Park in the Wild Card Series. Next up for the Padres is a much taller order: the 103-win, best-record-in-baseball Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS. 

The Brewers are similarly on fire, having won 15 of 18 to close the season. 

This series should be all kinds of fun with both teams operating at such a high level, and we get the added bonus of them being two of the five active franchises to have never won the World Series.

If the Padres are to pull off an upset here, an integral ingredient will obviously be Fernando Tatis Jr. His 2026 has truly been a tale of two seasons. It seems like a distant memory now, but for months, he was broken at the plate, as were most of his teammates. It actually started to get pretty annoying to discuss, but it required discussion because what was happening with this offense was so jaw-dropping. 

For those unaware, at the All-Star break, the Padres ranked dead last in all of baseball in batting average (.226), on-base percentage (.302) and were 29th in slugging (.370, only one point ahead of 30th). Sure enough, they were last in runs scored, checking in at 379 overall, which was a paltry average of 3.94 per game. 

After the break, the Padres would average 5.2 runs per game. They led the majors in average (.270) and were second in OPS (.781). 

It wasn't just one player. Jackson Merrill picked things up, Austin Hays hit well, Ty France was outstanding and there was a bunch more supporting cast help. 

Tatis is the lifeblood of this team, though. 

How Tatis turned things around after brutal start

At the forefront of the annoying-but-baffling discussions from the Padres' anemic first-half offense was Tatis and how long it took him to hit a home run. 

Through May 16, he was hitting just .233/.310/.276. In the next two weeks, he got hot in terms of average (17 for 42, good for a .405 average) and on-base percentage (.479), but he still wasn't hitting for power. In these 42 at-bats, he had one double and that was his only extra-base hit. 

Early in the season, he wasn't pulling the ball very often. And when he did, he was hitting the ball on the ground. He was still hitting the ball hard, just often on the ground. There might've been a mental block in there to the point he started pressing. 

On May 30, he finally hit a home run. 

It wasn't quite as dramatic as Andy Dufresne throwing up his arms under the rain after escaping Shawshank, but that Tatis reaction was almost palpable through the screen as a combination of ecstasy and relief. 

And then the floodgates flew open. He had opened up his stance just a little and started to lift the ball more. In August, Tatis said the struggles actually helped him -- eventually. 

"It made me know myself better," Tatis said (MLB.com). "To even put a bigger trust in myself and the ability that I have, and building from there."

From that first home run through the rest of the season, Tatis hit 25 in 104 games, a 162-game pace of 39 bombs. Basically, he played like a 40-homer guy for the final two-thirds of the season. 

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If we looped back to where Tatis finally started to hit well (May 17), that leaves us with his final 115 regular-season games. Tatis hit .309/.376/.538 with 27 doubles, two triples, 25 home runs, 68 RBI, 81 runs and 28 stolen bases. Simply, he had a terrible start to the season and didn't hit for power until nearly two months into the year, but played well more than half the season as one of the very best players in baseball. 

"He feels good in the box with his swing," said manager Craig Stammen (MLB.com). "He feels good with what the hitting coaches' game plan is giving him. … I think it's freed Fernando up just to go be a baseball player, and use his natural talent to the best of his abilities."

Sure enough, after the All-Star break, he was second in the majors in OPS, 10th in average, third in home runs, sixth in RBI (he's a leadoff man, remember), fourth in runs and eighth in steals. 

The team turnaround came a bit later, but was just as drastic. After a loss on July 23, the Padres were 50-53 and sat four games back of the third wild card in the National League. They also had four teams to jump over before even getting to the third wild card team. 

Since that date, the Padres have gone -- including their 2-0 playoff record -- an MLB-best 43-18. 

Remember, a good number of people in the baseball world insisted that teams in the Padres' position on July 23 should be trade-deadline sellers. A few teams actually were closer to playoff position and did sell. All the Padres have done since that point is play like a 114-win team. 

Tatis set tone vs. Cubs with leadoff homer

Game 1 of the Wild Card Series was a clear illustration of how Tatis is the engine that makes the Padres go. 

The first pitch the Padres saw in the series was a Tatis home run, sending Petco Park into a frenzy and setting the tone for the beatdown. 

Later in the game, Tatis showed the impact he has on the bases, too, scoring from first on a stolen base attempt. He was going to be safe at second anyway, but the ball got away and squirted into shallow left field. Tatis got up from his slide into second, took off for third and never slowed down en route to scoring and, again, sending the crowd into a frenzy. 

Not only is Tatis' monster finish to the season notable, but his playoff ledger is pretty nice, too. He was only 1 for 12 last season in the Padres' Wild Card Series loss to the Cubs, but otherwise, he's been incredible in the postseason. He has now played in 18 playoff games. In his 78 plate appearances, he's hit .313 with a .701 slugging percentage, five doubles, seven home runs, 13 RBI, and 18 runs scored. 

Yes, the Brewers are going to be incredibly tough to topple for the underdog Padres, but there's reason for the visitors in Game 1 to be confident in their chances. Not only are they arguably the hottest team in baseball right now, riding a Pacific Ocean-sized wave of vibes, but their catalyst is one of the hottest and most exciting players in baseball.