Breaking down Fernando Tatis Jr.'s unusual 2026 season
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Fernando Tatis Jr. posted a .289/.358/.470 slash line with 25 homers, 38 steals and a 5.4 WAR rating over 159 games, helping San Diego clinch the NL’s top wild‑card spot and advance past the Cubs before falling to the Brewers in the NLDS.
After a 55‑game homerless stretch, his performance surged in the second half, posting a .299/.365/.549 line, 20 home runs and 15 steals in his final 64 games, and posting a .995 OPS during that span, the second‑best in the majors behind NL MVP candidate Pete Crow‑Armstrong.
The turnaround coincided with a rise in launch angle from one degree to seven degrees after May 30, boosting his hard‑hit rate to 55.6%, barrel rate to 14.4% and exit velocity to 94.4 mph, while his strikeout and whiff percentages fell to 16.9% and 23.8% respectively, yielding a .397 expected wOBA for the remainder of the season. Analysts note that extending that post‑May 30 production could project a 7+ WAR, 40‑40 season, a level not seen since his 2021 campaign.