Breakout Weekend

Fernando Tatis, Jr. was already one of baseball's rising stars. Had he been able to play more than 84 games a year ago -- when he smacked 22 home runs and hit .317 -- he'd have given Pete Alonso a strong run for NL Rookie of the Year.

This past weekend, the Padres shortstop pushed things to another level. Five home runs in his past four games: Sunday's against the Diamondbacks gave him 30 in his first 100 major league games, and the first shortstop to pull that off!

That home run didn't come off some player pool fill-in, it came against likely future Hall of Famer Madison Bumgarner, and it traveled 418 feet. That gave him eight on the season and tied Tatis with Aaron Judge for the most in the majors. 

In a sport that needs to develop as many dynamic young stars as possible, Tatis is well on the way to being one of the ascending faces of the game. Not playing on a glamour team, and calling mid-sized market San Diego his home, we'll see how long it takes for his talents to land the Padres -- who are off to a 9-7 start -- more national TV exposure.

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