Fernando Tatis Jr

Makeup:
Hustles. Doesn’t play entitled despite the talent. Looks like he’s having fun. Calm but very focused demeanor. Plays with advanced maturity for age.

Player Summary:
Offense: Handsy, smooth, athletic, line drive swing with consistent hard contact to all fields. Stays on the ball really long through zone with excellent bat speed, pitch recognition and bat to ball skills. Consistently barrels and has really good feel for bat in zone. Knows the strike zone and what to swing at. Really good load and keeps hands back well on off-speed and really quick wrists and trigger allows him to sit on pitches no matter the count. Maintains excellent leverage during swing, allowing him to tap into borderline 7 raw power to LFC/Straight-away that projects to be top of the scale at peak. Aggressive takes and never looks overmatched, no matter the stuff. Really comfortable in the box. Shows ability to make adjustments from pitch to pitch and AB to AB. Rarely chases or expands the zone but his ability to hit almost everything means he sometimes gets himself out when he’s not totally locked in. Able to drive mistakes out of park with consistency. Shows no fear against all pitchers and pitch types. No glaring holes in swing or approach.

Running: Always hustling down the line out of the box with long, athletic, and powerful strides. Really shows borderline elite speed going 1st to 3rd. Aggressive turns and aggressive on bases stealing bases at ease. Plus-plus reads on ball into OF and knows when to take extra bases. Amazing going 1st to 3rd on short 1B to LF in front of him. Excellent base runner, efficient cuts on corners. Body type make cause him to slow down a tad at peak to just above average speed.

Defense: Only saw time at SS during coverage. Has some good reads off bat and helps him to get most plays but he’s not shifty with footwork and he’s high-waisted making it difficult to get low and through some balls there that a natural SS makes. Consistent low throws and very inaccurate with inconsistent release not in synch with footwork. Routine grounders proved to be difficult due to throwing mechanics. Struggles to catch ball at times when he’s moving through it and height makes it difficult for him to gobble it up and throw with one motion, he usually has to set his feet and then he’s not in rhthym to throw cleanly. Lacks feel for throwing or flipping, everything is hard and his grip is tight. As he comes through ball his feet move too quick and really not in synch with arm/release. Tracks pop-ups really well and he’s aggressive to ball, showing solid hands that will allow him to be abv avg at 3B at peak – not a natrual SS.

Profile: 5-tool, special player with advanced instincts in all aspects, especially on offense and base-running. Only downside is he does not look natural at SS and even though he’s got the hands, arm and athleticism to play there, he doesn’t move through ball and throw well and would really benefit from a move to 3B. You can drop him in the big leagues today and he’ll figure out a way to produce value but since he’s only 19, a bit more seasoning in AA/AAA will help but he’s already too advancd for AA level.

One-Line Summary:
Future All-Star 3B w/ well abv avg combo of off/def/run

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