Who is El Niño? | Zach Danon

El Niño, the 6 foot 3 inches, 217-pound superstar for the San Diego Padres is looking to make one of his best seasons yet. Coming off a piping hot 2021, he is ready to make a splash in 2022. With the season just a few weeks in, there is a lot to look forward to for this young Dominican superstar.

Fernando Tatis Jr. was born in San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic to Maria Tatis and Fernando Tatis. El Niño’s father played in the MLB for 11 years. Over that span of time, he played for the Rangers, Cardinals, Expos, Orioles, and Mets. His father is most known for hitting two grand slams in one inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fernando Tatis Sr. also played on the left side of the infield, however, he took control at the hot corner, unlike his son who plays shortstop.

Fernando Tatis Jr. is the oldest of five in his extremely athletic family. He has three brothers: Elijah, Joshua, and Daniel, and one sister, Maria. Fernando’s brother Elijah signed a major league contract with the Chicago Whitesox and maybe one day we will get to see Fernando play against him.

El Niño originally signed with the Chicago White Sox like his younger brother Elijah did a few years later. Luckily for Padres fans, he was traded to San Diego, and in return, Chicago got right-handed pitcher James Shields. James Shields is infamously known as the guy who allowed Bartolo Colon to hit a home run. Shields played his last professional season in 2018 so it is evident that the Padres won this trade by a long shot. In fact, that trade will be felt for many years to come.

El Niño entered the Padres Minor league organization on June 20, 2016, and he joined the major league team on March 28, 2019. Fernando was the youngest player in 20 years to start on Opening Day. In the opening day game against the San Francisco Giants, Tatis smacked two hits.

Fernando Tatis Jr. gained popularity extremely quickly in San Diego and all over the world. His energy and hustle are comparable to very few players around Major League Baseball. Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets and Javy Baez of the Chicago Cubs are two players that come to mind when I think of guys similar to Tatis. All three of those guys have the energy to bring up a team and carry them on their backs. Fernando is often seen singing and dancing to songs with the team pregame.

The hustle shown by Tatis is something that the sport of baseball has not seen in a long time. On multiple occasions, Fernando has tagged up on balls that were caught in the infield which is unheard of. He racks up plenty of stolen bases and is aggressive on the base path contributing to his plethora of extra-base hits.

On the field, Fernando is easy to spot due to the bright colors he wears and a few other unique things. He wears bright cleats, arm sleeves, and headbands. All of these are by Adidas since that is his main sponsor. He wears big and colorful sunglasses made by 100 percent vision which is actually meant for mountain biking, yet many major leaguers started wearing them recently. He also has a few big chains that he wears in-game. Another major sponsorship of his would-be Victus. They’re a baseball bat company that is owned by Marucci, another baseball company. Tatis has his own signature wood bat, the Tatis23 which is a maple bat that is available to anyone for $180.

Fernando Tatis Jr. has an impressive sense of style. He is almost always wearing bright colors along with an infectious smile. He often arrives at games wearing a fun suit that is styled in a way that dresses it down, draws attention to it, and looks a whole lot cooler.

Fernando recently signed a 14-year contract worth 340 million dollars. This is the longest contract in baseball history. Tatis has on multiple occasions said that he wants to spend his entire career in San Diego because he loves the atmosphere. So in typical Tatis fashion, he went and secured himself a contract that will keep him in San Diego for a long time.

This contract was very important for San Diego since Tatis was going to be eligible for free agency after the 2024 season. Now the Padres have Tatis and Machado, possibly the best-left side of the infield in all of Major league baseball, for years to come. The Padres also have Hosmer for a few more years as well as some solid pitching. The Padres are known to have a good farm system so with more young talent on the way who knows what will happen next.

Tatis has already set a multitude of records at a young age and he is constantly improving. Padres fans will hopefully watch their team have another winning season led by El Niño and maybe even see him break some more records.