Fernando Tatis Jr. debuts for Padres

SAN DIEGO – The Padres promoted Fernando Tatis Jr. – the youngest player to have started the first day in 20 years – largely because they knew he would be able to handle the scene.
The stop-short of five 20-year-old tools did not take long to prove it.
Tatis hit a single one through the

SAN DIEGO – The Padres promoted Fernando Tatis Jr. – the youngest player to have started the opening day in 20 years – largely because they knew that he would be able to handle the scene.

The stop-short of five 20-year-old tools did not take long to prove it.

Tatis hit a left-leaning single in the second leg of Thursday's 2-0 win over the Giants, his first big league win. A raucous Petco Park – which gave Tatis a pre-match ovation identical to that of Manny Machado – stood up again and applauded.

This single made Tatis the first 20-year-old to be a big hit on the first day since Machado and Bryce Harper made the feat in 2013. At 20 years and 85 days, Tatis is the most young player to have started part of the opening day since Adrian Beltre. in 1999 and the youngest Padre to do it.

"It was fast enough, I will not lie," said Tatis before the game. "But I think I played for that, I worked for it, and here we are."

The Padres have the same feeling. Tatis has earned his call, the service time considerations are questionable. It was their best stop in the spring training. And so, he was sixth in the Opening Day training. He again demonstrated his talent in the fourth inning by creating a single group at Bumgarner, making him the youngest with two hits on opening day at the opening day since Robin Yount, aged 19, in 1975.

"It was a baseball decision, and we decided to do it as well," Preller said. "Of course, you take everything into account, you take into account the composition, the budget and the finances, but in the end, from a baseball point of view, that was the direction we wanted to go to. a better club, we wanted to reward him. "

Tatis is the jewel of the highest ranked farm operation system in the sport. It is ranked # 2 by MLB Pipeline, and the shortest stop on the market. He posted a .280 / .358 / .487 slash line in three minor league seasons.

The Padres did not hesitate to promote their chances. Chris Paddack and Francisco Mejia, the five best young people in the group, were also part of the training. Left-handed Nick Margevicius will make his debut on Saturday.

"They believe in us and we have also done the work," said Tatis. "It was not a gift for us, we are working hard and it has paid off."

This paid, indeed, on one of the biggest stages of the sport.