San Diego Padres: 5 takeaways from Saturday's win against the Arizona Diamondbacks
![San Diego Padres v Arizona Diamondbacks San Diego Padres v Arizona Diamondbacks](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4128,h_2322,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/133/01gypt7n34acb335wgt2.jpg)
…and so is Fernando Tatís Jr.
Although Fernando Tatís Jr. had already made his season debut, his first at-bat on Saturday saw him launch his 2023 season. More accurately, he launched Merrill Kelly over deep left field for a 374-foot home run. It was the first one since his 80-game PED suspension and gave the Padres a 1-0 lead at the top of the first inning.
Fernando Tatis Jr. crushes his first HR of the season. pic.twitter.com/0cUksF3cty
— MLB (@MLB) April 23, 2023
Tatís Jr. also featured in the key moment of the game with Ha-Seong Kim’s base hit. It allowed both Tatís Jr., who Kelly had walked, and Juan Soto to score, and the RBI double produced the go-ahead run at 4-3. Despite an aggressive set of at-bats, with 11 strikes from 18 plate appearances, El Niño is back in the big leagues looking to crush pitchers.