LOS ANGELES — It’s no secret that Fernando Tatis Jr. is one of the most electric players in baseball. But lately, he’s showing that he might be one of the most electric players in postseason history.
After dropping Game 1 of the NLDS to the Dodgers, San Diego needed to set the tone of Game 2. On Saturday in Game 1, San Diego had jumped in front early with a big swing, but the Dodgers rallied back for a 7-5 victory, largely on the shoulders of Shohei Ohtani.
Seemingly undeterred, the Padres did the same on Sunday in Game 2, this time courtesy of Tatis. With boos raining down on him from the Dodger Stadium crowd, the outfielder quickly changed the mood in the park, taking a Jack Flaherty fastball and crushing a high, towering blast into the left-field bullpen, giving the Padres a quick 1-0 lead.
With that, Tatis took back the momentum, leading the charge as this rivalry ramped back up and Dodger Stadium went from lively to raucous in the Padres’ 10-2 victory.
“Wild,” Tatis said afterward of the environment in L.A. “Definitely wild out here. But at the same time, it’s a good environment for baseball, even though people get carried away a little bit with their emotions. But, I mean, it’s a good back-and-forth at the end of the day.”
It was more of the same in Tatis’ next at-bat, as he ripped a double into the left-center-field gap. So far this postseason, he’s 9-for-14 with three home runs, five RBI and a 2.151 OPS. His career 1.528 OPS in 36 postseason at-bats is the second-highest in MLB history, behind only that of former big-league outfielder Colby Rasmus.
And it wasn’t just on offense that Tatis made his presence known. The Platinum Glove Award winner reminded everyone that he is also one of the best defenders in the game in the fourth inning. First baseman Freddie Freeman laced a 111.4 mph ball into the right-field gap, sending Tatis into a full sprint before he leapt to rob Freeman of extra bases.
Following Tatis’ lead in putting on a show were his fellow outfielders, Jurickson Profar and Jackson Merrill. Profar’s impact started early on defense, with a home-run robbery — and fake out — of Mookie Betts in the first inning, which snatched the potential momentum away from the Dodgers as he snatched the ball away from their fans.
The 21-year-old Merrill continued his impressive rookie campaign with his second multi-hit game of this postseason, capped off by a two-run shot in the eighth that extended San Diego’s lead to…