Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t look like an All-MLB player on May 29. At that point, his stat line was the kind you’d expect from a fringe bat, not one of the game’s marquee names: .268 average, .652 OPS, six doubles, no home runs, 17 RBIs and 51 strikeouts in 205 at-bats, good for a 24.9% strikeout rate.
The zero in the home run column was the loudest number of all.
And yet the deeper indicators told a different story. Tatis’ exit velocity and launch angle were still elite, suggesting the contact quality was there even when the results weren’t. The line drives and deep flies just hadn’t started dropping in or leaving the yard yet.
Then came May 30, when he broke through with his first homer against the Washington Nationals, and from there the hit parade never really stopped. That surge helped fuel the Padres’ push to the NL’s top wild-card seed.
By Sept. 27, Tatis had turned the season into something much more familiar: .289 with an .828 OPS, 25 doubles, 25 home runs and 83 RBIs. His strikeout rate also dipped to 20.8%, a cleaner version of the hitter San Diego expected all along.
That late-season finish, plus his usual strong defense in right field and 50 surprise starts at second base, earned Tatis one of three outfield spots on Bleacher Report’s All-MLB Team, which “highlight[s] the best and brightest across Major League Baseball during the 2026 season....”
He wasn’t the only Padre to make the cut. Closer Mason Miller joined him on the All-MLB Team, a nod that further stamped him as one of the most unhittable relievers in the sport.
Miller faced 272 batters over 70.0 innings and struck out 129 of them, a staggering 47.4% strikeout rate that translated to 16.6 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. He also led the National League with 38 saves, including 28 in a row to open the season.
In Other News...
Padres Face A Costly Bullpen Decision With Jason Adam
Jason Adam has become one of the trickier questions on the Padres offseason board, because the interest is there on both sides but so is the risk. He has made it clear he would like to remain in San Diego, and the bullpen depth he provides still matters to a club that has leaned on him when healthy. But with a torn quad last year and a shoulder strain this season, the conversation around him is no longer just about stuff and results, it is about how much durability a team can reasonably expect going forward.
For now, contract talks have not even gotten to the point where the Padres and Adam have hashed out a number, which leaves plenty unresolved. His market value is hard to pin down because the injury history complicates everything, and that creates a real possibility that San Diego will have to decide whether the price goes beyond what it believes makes sense. It is the kind of bullpen call teams dread in the winter, when a useful arm can still matter, but the medical file is impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Just Got Pulled Into A Padres Rotation Rumor
The Padres are expected to spend the offseason looking hard at their rotation, and that search has already pushed them into the kind of star-powered territory that tends to reshape a winter. A Bleacher Report analyst has pegged Tarik Skubal as a prime target, which is no small matter for a team that has made starting pitching one of its clearest priorities going into the next round of roster building.
Skubal is coming off a 2026 season with the Dodgers, and the price tag attached to his next deal is expected to be enormous. For San Diego, the appeal is obvious: an elite left-hander at the top of the market would immediately change the look of the staff. Whether the Padres can actually get involved at that level is the real question, especially with a record-setting contract likely waiting on the other side. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Bet On Casey Mize Just Became An Awkward Offseason Subplot
The Padres took a swing on Casey Mize before the 2026 trade deadline, hoping the former top prospect could give their rotation a late-season lift. Instead, the stretch run turned rough quickly, with Mize posting a 7.46 ERA over 10 starts and eventually finishing the year on the injured list because of a right ankle sprain. For a team that has spent plenty of time trying to patch together pitching depth, it left San Diego with more questions than answers.
Now Mize is headed into free agency, which makes his short Padres stint look even stranger in hindsight. Despite what happened in San Diego, some analysts still expect him to land a multi-year deal, with the Detroit Tigers viewed as a possible fit. For the Padres, it is a reminder that deadline bets can turn awkward fast, especially when the player in question never gets long enough to change the narrative. [Read more 🡒]