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It took 56 games, but San Diego Padres second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. is finally on the board with a home run in 2026.
Tatis, who once hit 42 home runs in a season and 23 in a 47-game span, started the season with 238 homer-less plate appearances before blasting No. 1 against the Washington Nationals on Saturday.
The drought-breaking home run was a no-doubter: Tatis hit it 451 feet and knew immediately that it was gone.
Here's a look at the mammoth home run that snapped Tatis' long drought.
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Fernando Tatis Jr. home run vs. Nationals
Tatis smashed Foster Griffin's pitch 451 feet to left field for his first home run of the season, more than two months after Opening Day:
— MLB (@MLB) May 30, 2026Not only was it an important home run for Tatis, but it was his longest since Sept. 30, 2021, when he hit a 467-foot blast.
Tatis' recent results hinted that a breakthrough might be coming. He entered Saturday 11 for his last 20 at the plate and 15 for his last 33, enough for a 1.023 OPS over his previous nine games. Tatis' season OPS remains under .700, but the trajectory appears to be pointing upward again for a player once considered one of baseball's biggest stars.
Here's a closer look at the severity of Tatis' home run drought.
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Fernando Tatis Jr. home run drought
Tatis went 238 plate appearances without a home run before hitting his first of the season on Saturday.
The numbers are staggering. A total of 394 players — more than 13 per team — hit a home run before Tatis did this season despite the 27-year-old not missing any time due to injury.
While he did go deep for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, Tatis' last MLB home run before Saturday came all the way back on Sept. 27, 2025, when he homered for the third consecutive game just before the end of the regular season.
With Tatis ending his drought, Rays OF Chandler Simpson and Pirates 3B Nick Gonzales are the only MLB players remaining with at least 200 plate appearances and no home runs in 2026.
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