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The San Diego Padres have played 29 games, with Fernando Tatis Jr. starting all of them, hitting behind the leadoff spot. Despite getting tons of opportunities, Tatis Jr. has failed to add to a key slugging stat.
The Padres star has yet to hit a home run in 112 plate appearances. In Wednesday's 4-5 loss against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park, the Padres slugger added an RBI, taking his total to 13 for the season. But the one column that remains empty is the home run.
It's unprecedented for a star of such caliber to be kept quiet at the plate. The empty home run column is even more startling, given his elite Statcast stats like 94.5 mph average exit velocity, 13.6% barrel rate, and a hard-hit rate over 66%.
More: Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. is biggest disappointment in RF with one clear fix
Fernando Tatis Jr.: "Been close for a while"
After the latest loss against the Cubs, Fernando Tatis Jr. was confronted with the empty home run column question. The Padres star humbly responded:
"Been close for a while, but this is sacrifice play."
No doubt, the Petco Park can get tough for hitters to hit a home run and those fly balls could really go long in other ballparks. There's a reason to believe that it won't be long before we see the Padres slugger thriving again.
The next opportunity for Tatis Jr. comes on Friday when the Padres host the Chicago White Sox for a three-game series. This could be possibly be a good opportunity for Tatis Jr. to finally get off the block and contribute to the team in a major way.
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