Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. can’t believe he missed Miguel Rojas pitch in blowout loss

San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. has enjoyed a resurgent June, recording nine doubles and slashing .323/.359/.479/.838, but he is still not posting the home-run volume he has been accustomed to during his career. The 27-year-old right fielder and second baseman missed a surefire opportunity to go yard in Friday’s 15-3 loss versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. And it will probably eat at him until his next at-bat.

LA broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning and put the game out of reach with a nine-run explosion, giving manager Dave Roberts the luxury of saving his bullpen. He gave the ball to veteran infielder Miguel Rojas in the final frame, and the results were quite glowing. Tatis thought differently, however. Staring at a lollipop, the two-time Silver Slugger stunningly whiffed. He then grounded out, beginning what was a routine 1-2-3 ninth for the Dodgers.

Rough day at the office pic.twitter.com/44Q4gxhuq0

— MLB (@MLB) June 28, 2026

One could just see the frustration on Tatis’ face after he squandered a chance for his third homer of the season. He was not the only player to lose track of Rojas’ pitch, however. Young Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing, who appeared to be ending his rough week on a high note after smashing a 399-foot dinger in the sixth, got hit with the ball in the thigh/groin area. He is likely doing better than Tatis, though.

The three-time All-Star may never recapture his pre-PEDs power, but he still belted a respectable 71 home runs in his previous three seasons combined. He will have to go on quite the tear to reach the 20-mark this year. Though, San Diego should not quibble too much as long as Fernando Tatis Jr. is staying productive.

The right-handed hitter is batting .284 with a .346 on-base percentage, .368 slugging percentage and .714 OPS. He will try to boost those numbers a bit more when the Padres (43-38) clash with the Dodgers (53-30) in Sunday’s rubber match.

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