Fernando Tatis Jr. must live up to all-time comparison from Xander Bogaerts in Game 5

Though the San Diego Padres were on the outside looking in of the playoffs last year, they have rallied and are making their mark on this year's postseason. The Padres are looking to make it back to the World Series for the first time since 1998 and win their first ever championship.

A big reason why the Padres are in position to bring their first World Series trophy back to San Diego has been the play of Fernando Tatis Jr. The moment is never too big for the Padres right fielder. In fact, you might even say he was built for October.

One of Tatis' teammates sees the greatness in the young phenom. Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who spent the first part of his career with the Boston Red Sox, sees similarities between Tatis and his former teammate David Ortiz.

Xander Bogaerts shares David Ortiz comp after Padres' star Fernando Tatis Jr. shines in playoffs

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) recently shared that Bogaerts compared Tatis to the Red Sox Hall of Famer. Why? Well, when it comes to a flair for the dramatic, Tatis has met the moment head-on.

A lot of Padres fans forget that Tatis was not part of the Friars' previous trip to the postseason in 2022 after being suspended and later suffering a season-ending injury. Tatis was part of the Padres' 2020 playoff roster, but there were a lot of things missing from that year's pandemic-shortened campaign. Tatis went 7-for-27 in six games during that run.

But in the 2024 MLB Playoffs, Tatis has come up clutch time and time again. When the Padres need a big hit, Tatis has supplied the lumber. That sounds eerily similar to the type of postseason performances Ortiz used to put forth in Boston. For his playoff career, Ortiz hit .289/.404/.543 with 17 home runs in 85 games.

It'll take Tatis is little more time in order to etch his name into postseason lore, namely his forthcoming performance in a do-or-die Game 5 at Dodger Stadium, but he's well on his way if the 2024 season continues to yield the type of results Padres fans have seen thus far.

His biggest test yet to live up to the Big Papi comp, however, will come on Friday night. Let's hope Bogaerts didn't speak too soon here.

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