Fernando Tatis Jr. has put himself in line for a rare kind of double dip.
When MLB unveiled its 2026 Silver Slugger finalists on Thursday, the Padres star showed up twice: once among the National League outfield nominees and again in the utility group. That gives him a shot at being recognized as one of the league’s best hitters at two different spots.
The second-base experiment that San Diego rolled out in early April looked unusual at the time, especially after Tatis had spent the previous three seasons in the outfield and already built a résumé there with a pair of All-Star selections and Gold Glove Awards. But the move may have done more than just shuffle his defensive responsibilities. It also opened the door to more Silver Slugger possibilities.
Tatis logged 53 games at second base, including 50 starts, and finished with a .979 fielding percentage. That was below the MLB average of .987 for second basemen, but he still posted 115 assists, 71 putouts and helped turn 19 double plays.
The Silver Slugger, though, is all about offense. Since 1980, the award has gone to the best hitter at each position in both leagues, with voting handled by MLB managers and coaches who cannot vote for their own players.
And Tatis made a strong enough case at the plate to be in the mix.
His season started slowly. By May 29, the day before he hit his first home run, he was sitting at .268 with a .652 OPS, six doubles, 17 RBIs and 51 strikeouts in 205 at-bats.
That worked out to a 24.9% strikeout rate. Then he caught fire over the final four months.
He finished at .289, just seven hits shy of a .300 batting average, with a .828 OPS, 25 doubles, 25 home runs and 83 RBIs. His strikeout rate dropped to 20.8%, and the production also landed him on the Bleacher Report All-MLB Team.
Tatis is no stranger to this award, either. He won Silver Sluggers as a shortstop in 2020 and 2021.
In the outfield race, he’ll be up against Corbin Carroll, Jackson Chourio, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, Jordan Walker and James Wood, with three winners to be selected. In the utility category, his competition is Jake Bauers and Sal Stewart.
If Tatis wins once, he’ll tie Manny Machado for third on the Padres’ all-time Silver Slugger list with three. If he wins both, he’d move into a tie for second with four, joining catcher Benito Santiago. Tony Gwynn leads the franchise with seven, earned from 1984-97.
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