SPOTLIGHT: Fernando Tatis Jr.

[Music] know padre in the team's history has burst into the big leagues with his combination of youth energy confidence style skill and pure joy you think this kid loves to play this game of baseball with dreadlocks flying a smile that brightens the ballpark and the glee of a kid doing what he loves best fernando tati's junior has become one of baseball's most electric talents in a very short time unbelievable that's incredible or maybe not that short of a time because he was born into the game his father fernando senior made major league history now fernando jr seems destined to rewrite some records himself fernando tatis jr takes it out of the yard we venture to the dominican republic to learn what made him who he is and what inspires him to go go and go hello [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] san pedro de macaries in the dominican republic is a city of roughly 195 000 people in comparison to its size it has produced an unusually large number of major league players roughly 100 and counting current players in the big leagues who hail from here include robinson cano and at least for now its most famous major leaguer is sami sosa former big leaguer fernando tati senior and his son fernando jr were also born and raised here we grew up seeing baseball we see all over the place and everywhere you see kids play baseball without glove just a mistake in the ball this is the main thing you know because families you know us as players we see opportunity a chance how we can become a better of ourselves or a better person how can we can help our family you know opportunity we just play in the morning and the afternoon and night you know we love baseball [Music] when fernando jr was just three months old his father made major league history we see who powered that one a grand slam home run and the cardinals lead it four to two the runners go 3-2 to t swing in a long one there it is folks baseball history a second grand slam home run for fernando to tease in the third inning in los angeles california and the cardinals lead it to 11-2 wow wow get those record books out folks fernando tati senior is still the only player in major league history to hit two grand slams in the same inning and the fans here at dodger stadium are giving him a standing ovation played in the big leagues from 1997 to 2010. so he knew talent when he saw it and he had an inkling the first time fernando jr showed interest in the game as soon as i saw him grabbing the bat and hitting the ball the way that he was hitting the ball and the way that he was swinging but i say he might get a chance el desd surrounded by the game and soon immersed in it young fernando got to the baseball field at every opportunity he always told me uh take me to the field let's go hit that let's go hit he just love to hit when we put it like in the literally and he started playing that's when i realized that he's gonna be special he loved playing every weekend so that's when i when i was realized that he's he had the ability to make it a big league the fields on which he played were not pristine in fact some weren't even fields when i was a kid i played kind of everywhere you used to play in a farm or you know i'm not something that we can call that baseball field or we we played a couple times in the parking lot too so it was where we played baseball when they asked me that question i said it everywhere [Music] pasquel medina a friend of the tatis family began teaching fernando jr physical training techniques very early on while fernando clearly inherited some skills from his father his outgoing personality comes from his mother my number one fan that's uh i would say that way but you know mom is a person who's love to laugh she loves to have a good time make jokes make pranks so i think that's why i am the same way because of her despite being away from home playing baseball for more than half of each year fernando senior made it a priority to stay in touch we be in the phone every single day we'd be facetiming or you know every time we have a chance like a long weekend or spring break summer we always used to take a flight and go see pops to play and spend family quality time fernando senior played in 11 big league seasons his best was 1999 with the saint louis cardinals when he hit 34 homers and drove in 107 runs later in his career fernando jr was a regular in the clubhouse when i was a kid my dad used to take me to montreal he used to bring me in or with the mets you know he always so i can see i was about i always used to see the players talking like before the game we were playing joking around playing cards and i saw i got a little bit of a taste when i was a little kid of a big lick clubhouse padres general manager aj peller saw the younger tatis for the first time at a camp put on by the texas rangers preller was working for the rangers at the time right before he turned 15 years old actually the same workout i think vladie guerrero jr was at that workout and a couple other guys that have since gone on to do really well in pro baseball but uh yeah it was the first time i saw fernando and he was you know i think the things that stood out he was a very instinctive player and you could tell he was very smart for the game in july of 2015 at 16 years old tatis jr signed with the chicago white sox he would not be with them for very long coming up how he became a padre in what ranks is one of the best trades in the team's history as we shine the spotlight on shortstop fernando tatis jr spotlight fernando tatis jr brought to you by jack in the box proud partner of the san diego padres in june of 2016 the chicago white sox reached out to padres general manager aj preller in search of a veteran pitcher to bolster their staff they were you know looking to to win the the al central they had interest in in adding um you know veteran pitcher to go into their rotation and helped them for the for the you know for that season and rick on the white house gm had reached out and talked about james shields he was off to a good start with us and uh in the 2016 season we had gone back and forth for you know a couple of weeks basically and i think the number one thing with fernando with tatis he was he was the uh you know the priority guy for us fernando jr was surprised and a bit disappointed i was the new kid in the white sox i met everybody i was you know taking pretty good ride with him and just getting traded to san diego i'm the new guy again i got to meet everyone felt better when he learned he had been traded for a widely respected player in james shields but he felt a little pressure as well i was like oh god i better be good then i better become a superstar or something like that they getting what they want you know they're looking for a good pitcher so they they get what they want but they don't know exactly what they lost [Music] it's easy to see now that the white sox loss has been a huge padres gain fernando jr would report to rookie ball then to low a tri-cities he finished that 2016 season that fall at instructionals at the padres spring training site in peoria from day one he was a guy just just letting him know how excited we were to make the deal um you know i i think in his case just letting him know just be comfortable be himself and um you know go out and and just just focus every single day on getting better and you know you get traded for not just a major leaguer but a guy that's been you know an all-star pitcher uh you know it's kind of the key component we wanted to make sure that he wasn't gonna put pressure on himself and uh then really getting to see him every single day i think our coaches starts you know he's very comfortable in his own skin and he's uh you know he's that was not going to be an issue and a problem and then just let his ability take off right away i saw the trust that he put on me and the way the player that he saw me so i just admitted immediately just trying try to rise to location and become a better version of myself every single day his great speed and athleticism raised questions regarding whether tatis should be moved from shortstop to the outfield just 17 years old but mature beyond his years he handled that question like a veteran when asked in the fall of 2016. shortstop i think i'm gonna play center field too but my dad teach me play all the way around so actually i don't have any issues but i would say like stayed in the middle in the field having control of the game so short style and strength field would be great at the time tatis hadn't shown much power but he and the padres were confident that as he grew there was power in his future it's gonna get way better so we're gonna have some fun with it the teenager had a message for san diego fans it was a bold prediction four years later one that came true i always want to have fun so when i get there it's going to be a very fun time first though he battled the challenges of minor league life in places far from home i've always have been a big family guy so every time i'm out there and you know i'm away from home i get homesick real quick and when i'm away from home that's that's the big deal for me tatis jr never brought his homesickness to the field and as predicted his power improved in 2017 at single a fort wayne that became apparent tatis drives it deep to left center it's gone and it's a record and the franchise's 25th season the 18 year old becomes the first player to hit more than 20 home runs in a season in 2018 fernando was called to double a san antonio in april he hit just 177. his critics wondered if he had topped out the when all the noise came out oh he's he's only hitting one whatever and people started doubting about me i like it because and i i remember my heading coach he was a little bit panicked and i just tapping his shoulder hey remember we can't go we can't go lower from now now you just gotta go to the top so immediately that day we just start it just start happening indeed it did tati said 3 36 in may 3 30 in june and 295 in july i feel that is high that is deep and that is on the way to grandma's house but his season ended due to an injury to his thumb suffered on an attempted steal of second base although his season was over his workouts were not following surgery he was right back at the padres spring training site on the treadmill preparing for the next time he'd get on the field that next time would be in the dominican winter league playing for his hometown estrellas orientales this was the first pitch he saw in a live game following the thumb injury he was off to a great start and after years of losing they were winning but fernando admitted playing there was challenging because playing in front of the people that saw me grow playing for my home uh for my hometown and playing from the team that i grew up i got more pressure for that add to that his father fernando senior was the team's manager i'll tell those guys we're here to win it's not gonna happen like every year we're here to win if any of you guys don't believe that we're gonna we're gonna win there's the door you know go home the tatissa's hometown team hadn't won the league title since 1968. in the semifinals fernando's walk-off homer helped them earn a trip to the finals and the celebration continued as they won the dominican league championship for the first time in 51 years the celebration in one of the world's hotbeds of baseball continued for days it was a dream come true it was amazing i think we bring life again to our to our hometown and you can see people actually want on the street and together and just celebrating it finally happened my heart just started jumping and we really did it and uh it was i never going to forget the mama [Music] coming up with fernando tati's junior heading to big league camp there would be more unforgettable moments ahead we'll be right back soon after his victory in the dominican league championship fernando tatus jr reported to padre's big league camp for spring training although he hadn't played above double a and he had just turned 20 years old some said he had an outside chance to make the big league team winning championship from my hometown was very fun breaking the 51 years without winning it was very special you grew up as a man because you were playing with men and is that what yeah you know that was a youngest kid as usual but you know every every time it's a new experience you know there was different like a different time with every different players over there and it was very fun coming into this camp for second bigly camp how different does this feel what's your approach this year same thing as always come here and play baseball do what i know what to do and keep having fun as always it's fun continued throughout the spring of 2019 but his spring training was nearing its end he still didn't know if he'd made the team on the padres final spring training trip fernando was given the word that he was a major leaguer i just remember all those days i was a kid growing up and you know all those memories came back when i was working hard with my friends out here in the dr and you know all the minor league process and all that stuff just clinched and as soon as i got out of the office just call my mom and to buy a flight we're going to san diego there was plenty of emotion on the other end of the phone you know everybody started crying everybody was happy and it was it was a great time you know it brought brought my family in and that was that was the key for us tatis headed to san diego for opening day of 2019 as the youngest member of the padres he born when i was playing the big league so most of the baseball that he see is a big dish show so and uh he's my engineer his mind is not in my league you know his money is here but i think that's why he's grow up so fast and and his development coming fast because of the good baseball that he sees before fernando jr's big league debut at petco park on opening day 2019 dad had just one more bit of advice to stay at this level you have to prove that you belong here so in your mind you got to prove to yourself and to defend into the baseball that you belong to here so that's what i told he was quickly embraced by the friar faithful well for the first time in the major leagues fernando tatis jr is coming to the plate for his first major league at bat hitting sixth in the lineup fernando jr came up for his first at bat in the bottom of the second facing the giants madison bumgarner on the ground and into left field a base hit first major league hit for fernando tatis jr in his first ab i think i want a room right next to him it was a great feeling you know especially the support defense gave it to him and all the plows and it was amazing you might take 20 about without hits so your mind is gonna go crazy you know get the first one out of your way you you're good to go having veteran third baseman manny machado playing next to him helped in a number of ways manny could relate because he made it to the big leagues at just 19 years old so on and off the diamond they talked i would say a lot you know it's a guy that i have played in coco has been a long and successful career so i feel when you see guys like that you should always talk to them always approach to them and tell them to you know to feel free to tell to tell you anything that they feel is going to help you or to get better you get here firsthand and you see how athletic he is and how he moves and how how easy the game comes to him and um you know those are things that you don't realize as as you're on the other side but now you're playing and you see a day in day out when i say in third base i'm in shortstop i'll always talk to my self i need to rise to this level uh and like you know you're always trying to get pumped up because you see you know a guy that used to see on tv playing that good and a couple years later you're playing like right next to him you're just trying to get to this level and trying to do as better as you can as the season went on um you know you could just see the improvement of a young kid who came in here very raw just very talented knowing the game and you know started exceeding on the at the plate you know there was a big thing that they were talking about was oh he strikes out and he can't be able to hit in the big leagues and here he goes and he's hitting 300 330 whatever it was and he's doing things on the base pass that other people don't do so you know those are things that it's impressive to watch together the student and teacher quickly grew into one of the best left sides of the infield in baseball and their chemistry grew and just trying to have fun at the same time you know i feel like it's a great interaction when when you have a teammate like that and i just stuff like that i feel like it keeps the game alive their good natured competition shows each time one of them makes a great play but even manny had to appreciate the gem now known as air tatis [Music] come on who makes that play get up there that's extension kid's got some ups he just tipped the cap on that one you know it was like okay okay you got that one that i think that's the only one who gave me full credit on it tatsu's junior and machado could be a long-term foundation for success i was playing winning baseball here in the in the short term and and you know over the course of the next decade you know involves the two of those guys playing at a high level together at the ballpark fernando is a fountain of joy he's already captured a fan falling because he can't miss his hustle or his happiness the smiles come from being a rising star in the game he has loved as long as he can remember i'm just trying to bring some good vibe you know trying to bring everybody a smile i feel that way everybody can have a better moment or it's easier when you see a person that is always smiling i feel like it's always easier you can approach to them so i'm always trying to bring that that kind of energy and just trying to bring a good time to every single one teammates have become fans as well chris paddock was with fernando at times in the minor leagues so he's had a front row seat to fernando's show for a couple of years now yeah a few years ago when i got the opportunity to play you know play in front of him it was he's the best that i've ever seen at that position tatis would suffer a hamstring injury which canceled his bid for rookie of the year even he wondered how he'd bounce back but when he returned and excelled he knew he belonged in the big leagues i'll say after i came back from my first engine after the hamstring and uh i was hitting cycling 300 and you know people start arguing if i could stay that way or i was gonna you know get beat down and just be like a 240 hitter but after two weeks i saw i saw myself i could stay in the level and got even better every single day and that's when i realized okay i'm here to stay frankl is a guy that you know can really from a tool standpoint can do anything you want to see on the field and just you know basically enforces his will on the game he had hurt his thumb in the minors and his hamstring in his rookie season so there were rumblings that maybe tatis should play with a little less reckless abandon but that's just not going to happen you know in this game and you're just they're going to happen it's part of the game but you know when i got injured people told me oh you better be careful next time or slow down a little bit and i was like nah i'm just gonna i'm just gonna keep being myself and as soon as i got better i forgot a minute about the injury and started playing baseball the same way he's gonna try and score and he is in safely just trying to bring you know all the heat i got and every time i'm out there just trying to bring 110 on myself every single time you may have noticed that fernando tatus jr often has a splash of pink as part of his uniform it's a tip of the cap to his mother favorite um coming up fernando lets us in on his off-season routine at home in the dominican republic as spotlight el nino day san pedro [Music] continues [Music] [Applause] the kid is absolutely electric how about tati's junior diving head first fans and teammates now know they have a good chance of seeing something spectacular each time fernando tatis jr reaches base it's safe at the plate he plays the game like like a kid you know he has fun with it you know when's the last time you heard someone tag up from third on anfield pop-up twice in the season all in the last week and a half or so we have seen the guy score from second on the ground ball score from third on a ground ball to the pitcher and now tag up and score on a pop-up just beyond the infield dirt i mean he's a spark plug and he is in safely you know it's not just just running you know haphazardly or taking advantage of the speed he's got a game plan behind it [Music] there's a rhyme or reason he's watching the game he's very instinctive he's got great feel for what defenders are trying to do fernando tati's junior and he did it's matrix [Music] i think that enables him to utilize his speed in a way that was that was a real weapon for us last year it's a it's a very unique aspect for him as a player second though he's gonna try for third through to third he's laid and tati's junior is 90 feet away to second and he'll no he's gonna keep going throw to third not gonna get it i think that was really exciting for for you know the baseball world to see last year [Music] it's clear fernando has a big league sense of fashion in the way that he dresses and styles his hair [Music] is [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] what [Music] of all the beautiful places in his hometown one stands out as the favorite of fernando tattoos jr [Music] [Applause] let's go to malacon yeah you know it's a place in front of the ocean or the beach how you can call it and uh where people go dancing enjoy yourself have a good family or friend time and there's just music out there everywhere whenever he gets the chance fernando heads to his favorite spot where he knows there will be friends and plenty of coconut water [Music] there's good food so it's kind of a good place you can go out there [Music] another pastime of tattoos juniors is sharing his adventures on social media he has nearly 450 000 instagram followers he's not shy about showing them what he's up to according to fernando he's the best dancer on the team he tried to prove that one of his instagram posts after seeing fernando dance on instagram his mentor had some advice stay away from social media stay away from social stop posting fernando also likes to check out the local basketball gym he loves to play but for now he just watches [Music] [Applause] the gym is a social gathering place to watch some hoops catch up with friends and just be one of the guys although he doesn't get into the games and risk injury when the competition ends fernando puts on quite an athletic show [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] coming up fernando takes us into the gym for his grueling off-season workout and he explains how his puppies have helped his career that's next as the spotlight shines on padres shortstop fernando tatis jr [Music] [Music] welcome back in his first season in the big leagues fernando tatus jr was nothing short of spectacular this one look to left center out goes to t said he'll make the catch how about that fernando tati's junior an acrobatic spectacular catch [Applause] kids got some skills yo [Music] fernando tatus jr adds rigorous workouts in order to stay at the top of his game yeah his trainer since childhood pasquel medina keeps tatis moving i do a little bit of everything you know is or either on the beach or in the gym or in the track or getting massage to my body and you know the food is a really big part of it and this taking care of rest is what has been about okay fernando's favorite current major leaguer was also raised here and works out at the same gym in the off-season robinson canal you know i always say that because he's the hero of our hometown one of the main heroes and uh you know just the way he helped our our hometown and just the way he managed himself and the way he played the game and you know the way he has helped me is meant a lot to me and to my family and my hometown you got that when he's not at the gym you'll find fernando at his office the local batting cages there isn't any goofing around or wasted time it seems in this environment fernando keeps his game face on [Music] after hitting it's out to the field to work on defense [Applause] by this time fernando has expended enough energy for one day so he heads home to his two kids his puppies both are named after characters from disney's the lion king cocker spaniel it's nella the other one is australian shepherd miniature is pumbaa tatis got the dogs when he was recovering from his hamstring injury he was a bit down at the time and the little ones helped so i was a little bit laid down you know i was kind of feeling bad with myself because it was with a second injury i know i was not going to play anymore that year so it was kind of a roast time for me and when they came in they just totally just made me forget about that stuff omba is a crazy one he likes running jumping licking and uh you know he's always active now it's more like she comes to you and like yeah i just want to sleep with you and stay chill and relax all the time we always go to the beach and you know we start running around and see more people more dogs and we just go out there to have a good time especially when they're that young it's been kind of stressful because they kind of hard to behave but you know every time when i'm with them i feel like i'm getting away from everything and spending time with my dogs coming up a look ahead including some big goals for the future as the spotlight shines on fernando tatus jr spotlight fernando tatis jr brought to you by jack in the box proud partner of the san diego padres fernando tatis jr often takes time for fans his look is catching on it's really cool to see the little tatis wigs and the little dreadlocks that the kids are wearing you know that means something that means that you know not only is he a good player but he's a good guy you know and that's at the end of the day it's it's how you represent yourself off the field and you know he's very professional on and off the field as a youngster in san pedro fernando along for the days when you get to go to the big league ballparks with his father now fernando jr is the one away from home but he and his father speak often mostly about baseball you got to learn how to hit the ball to right field through the middle into the left field so you got to use the whole field that's something that we talk about every day the tatis family has twice overcome the challenges that baseball life creates and they have the man who foresaw his son in the big leagues soon after his child picked up a bat has a new vision for the future playing 20 years in a big clip that's all we're looking for you know playing every day if he can make it to the hall of famer let's do it why not let's go forward you know that's why he got in his mind [Music] fernando tatus jr plays with unrelenting hustle and electricity that can be felt even in the dugout and throws to first in time there's so much positive there's so much you know he brings so much energy you know he's he's always smiling always happy he brings energy he brought energy to our club last year he brings in her energy to organization and that's because you could just you know see the genuine passion of love he has for the game of baseball every day when he's on the field he truly enjoys it and i think that that comes through to all of our players and i think it clearly came through to san diego last year watching him on the field i always remember this is a game this is the game i always wanted to play since i was a kid and then you skip it i just keep it in that way that is only a game i'm very uh very honored to call my teammate you know and hopefully we'll be able to play with each other for the next you know 10 years if you want to be a hall of famer now's the time to put it in your heads only the greatest get there so and you have the talent to get there to just go forward there's no question tatis is an all-star caliber player but he and the experts think that he'll get even better you just see the potential that he has and how much more he can grow and you know the things that he does it's just something magical for him natural is the perfect word because it's just in his nature to play baseball and have fun always has been it's only a game so every time i go to the park every time i go to the field i'm just i'm just coming over to have fun and do what i know what to do

Channel: San Diego Padres

Views: 879,965

Rating: 4.9295082 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: GgRHIISOQXQ

Length: 43min 10sec (2590 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 11 2020