San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. began a rehab stint this week as he nears his return from an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension. And it seems at least one pitcher wasn’t a fan.
We learned so much after Tatis hit the first homer of his rehab assignment during a game Wednesday between the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, and the Sacramento River Cats, a San Francisco Giants affiliate .
That home run, booed by Sacramento fans, came from pitcher Kade McClure, a 27-year-old minor league player. A San Diego sports announcer responded to the homer by tweeting the video, implying it was an honor to give up such a titanic blast against a player like Tatis that McClure would tell people about it for years.
As it turns out, McClure was eager to tell people about it on Twitter. He just wasn’t very happy:
McClure is a freshman year with the Giants, having spent six years organizing with the Chicago White Sox after the team drafted him from Louisville in the sixth round of the 2017 MLB Draft. His tweet is a reminder of how divisive Tatis seems to be as he returns to the majors and tries to regain his status as one of baseball’s brightest stars.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is likely to get a lot of boos this year. The question will be how often the cheering drowns them out. (Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)
For many baseball fans (and apparently many players too) cheating is a truism; either you are a scammer or you are not. It doesn’t matter what excuses Tatis and his father came up with — bad medication used to treat a fungal infection from a haircut was their story — and it doesn’t matter how many times he apologizes to fans and teammates.
For some fans, Tatis joins an unforgivable group. He can only hope they form a clear minority as the Padres try to be the fun team again, led by Tatis, Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts. The Padres have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on their squad, including Tatis’ 14-year, $340 million extension signed in 2021, and they don’t want to lose their luster over a tainted star who has played 130 games in two years since the landing of this extension.
Tatis can return from his suspension on April 20. The Padres are playing a street game against the Arizona Diamondbacks that day that will provide a first indication of just how hostile street fans are willing to be.