Fernando Tatis Jr. went the first two months of the MLB season without hitting a home run. That drought came to an end on Saturday, and the San Diego Padres star could not have looked more relieved.
Tatis slugged his first home run of 2026 on Saturday at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. He took Nationals starter Foster Griffin deep, ending a run of 207 at-bats without a homer since the start of the season.
FERNANDO TATIS JR. HAS HIT A HOME RUN IN 2026! pic.twitter.com/7mF2DoyAVw
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 30, 2026
The celebration when Tatis returned to the dugout was more reminiscent of someone’s first career home run than anything else. At one point, Tatis looked up and took a deep breath, as if feeling total relief after going deep.
Pure relief in the Padres dugout after Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first home run of the year pic.twitter.com/LYXiaUCrvt
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 30, 2026
Tatis reached the 40 home run plateau in 2021, but has not since and probably will not again. He still had plenty of power, though, and hit 25 home runs for San Diego last season. His drought, needless to say, was highly unusual.
It has been a rough year for Tatis, who got off to a slow start at the plate. Things have not gotten much better since then, either. Entering play Saturday, he was hitting a respectable .268, but had just seven extra-base hits all season.
