The San Diego Padres are one of the strangest teams in Major League Baseball during the 2026 season so far. Their offense is not good, and yet, they’ve put up a strong record that has them at 31-23, only 3.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
If there is one poster-child for why the offense is not as good as it should be, it would be Fernando Tatis Jr. Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill have struggled as well, but Tatis has been a complete anomaly this season.
The Padres superstar received a prediction from The Athletics’ Grant Brisbee, and it’s a prediction that, if it doesn’t come true, it would set off some loud alarm bells for Tatis.
Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. prediction must come true
“In the next two months: Fernando Tatis Jr. hits a home run,” Brisbee predicts. “There have been a lot of players in recent seasons to go homerless over their first 50 games. Heck, Jose Iglesias did it for the Pads just last season. It’s a different story when a player is involved in a perennial MVP candidate and power hitter, though.”
Tatis, somehow, still hasn’t hit a home run during the 2026 season. He’s played in 53 games during the 2026 MLB season and has had 227 plate appearances.
But he has yet to hit one home run this season. For a slugger who averaged 25.3 homers per season, this is a baffling outcome for Tatis to begin the year.
Brisbee is predicting that over the next two months, through all of June and July, Tatis will get at least one home run.
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For a power hitter to go four months without a home run is unfathomable. It’s hard to imagine Tatis will go so long without a homer, even though he hasn’t hit one through 53 games in 2026.
If this prediction from Brisbee doesn’t come true, this might be the most alarming offensive season from a superstar in some time.
Tatis must hit a home run before August. The Padres need him to be a better hitter this season, and tapping into his power, which is very much still there, is key.
But, with this already worrying homerless start to the year, if this drought continues through June and July, there will have to be some major questions asked about Tatis’ game.