Prospect watch: Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to tear up the Texas League

By John Horvath
Published

MIAMI-- Padres top prospect (and the No. 6 prospect in all of baseball, per MLB Pipeline) Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to tear up the Texas League in AA-San Antonio.

Following a rough April in which he hit only .177 with a .564 OPS and 34 strikeouts in 96 at-bats for the Missions, the 19-year-old has made adjustments to Double-A pitching. Since the calendar turned to May, Tatis Jr. is slashing a blistering .349/.434/.638 with a 1.071 OPS. In that stretch, he has recorded 24 extra base hits (eight home runs) in 149 at-bats.

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In his last 19 games, the shortstop has lowered his strikeout rate to 17.4% and has upped his walk rate to 10.5%. On Friday, Tatis Jr. walked three times for the first time and also tripled in the Missions' 9-4 win over the Corpus Christi Hooks. There are all encouraging signs for a player who, if he keeps it up, seems to be in line to be starting on the left side of the Padres infield in 2019.

Jeff Passan, a well-renowned columnist for Yahoo Sports, wrote recently that Tatis Jr. may be in line to be baseball's No. 1 prospect in 2019.