Tatis HR highlights big inning in Padres' Game 3 win vs. Dodgers - ESPN

SAN DIEGO — For Fernando Tatis Jr., baseball's purest form occurs back home, in the Dominican Republic, within the raucous stadiums and the tense environments unique to what is colloquially known as winter ball. Tatis plays there any chance he gets, even in years when Major League Baseball's arduous season tires his body. It brings him joy. In some ways, Tatis has often expressed, it gives him life. And so perhaps it's no surprise that Tatis has starred in his first true playoff experience. The electricity from it has empowered him.

«I feed off that type of energy,» Tatis said after he helped lift his San Diego Padres to a 6-5 Game 3 victory and 2-1 lead over the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series. «When the fans are coming, meaningful games, leave everything that you have out there — I just feel like I take it to another level. My mindset, my body — everything is just through the roof.»

Tatis' latest home run, the highlight of a six-run second inning, was his fourth in five games in these playoffs, already tying Jim Leyritz in 1998 and Manny Machado in 2022 for the most in a single postseason in Padres history. Despite not reaching base in his other three at-bats Tuesday night, Tatis boasts a 1.970 OPS in that span. He is the second player — along with Carlos Beltran, who surged in October for the 2024 Houston Astros — to record at least 10 hits and four home runs through the first five postseason games, according to ESPN Research.

«Man, he's really seeing the ball really big right now,» Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts said in Spanish. «He's doing some incredible things. We obviously know he's got supreme talent. We know that. He's a great kid, works hard. I've seen that since I got here.