Fernando Tatis Jr. was born in 1999.  Recently, it was announced Acuña was so young he didn’t know who Mickey Mantle was, well, Tatis Jr. is so young he doesn’t know who Mike Trout is.  Dude was born like a minute ago, and not a minute as it’s defined in Urban Dictionary, which is a long time, but an actual minute.  Tatis’s dad is so young he didn’t even use charcoal as his medium; he used MS Paint.  Tatis Jr. looks like an All-Star ready to happen, until the 75th round draft pick, Albert Pujols Jr., comes along and replaces him.  Jokes aside, Tatis looks damn near perfect.  A lanky Machado maybe, a young Hanley possibly.  Like something Ryan Brasier would cover, Tatis looks real and spectacular.  I’d say the difference him and his pops is the difference between Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr., but Ken Sr. wasn’t that bad.  How about this, the difference between Tatises (Tatii?) is the difference between J.D. Martinez and J.D. Martinez Sr.  Was there a J.D. Martinez Sr.?  No idea, but that’s the point.  FTJ is going to be special.  Now Fun the Jewels fast!  Now Fun the Jewels fast!  Now Fun the Jewels fast!  Anyway, what can we expect from Fernando Tatis Jr. for 2019 fantasy baseball?

What we can expect:  can you say, “Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s 2018 season?”  If you can’t, you might need to see a speech therapist.  That’s my biggest concern for FTJ, that we don’t see him at all this year as the Padres bide their time and his service time and artificially suppress him.  The best we can hope for is a June call-up, but for that to happen, don’t we have to assume the Padres are contending?  If you didn’t laugh at the idea of the Padres contending, your Apple Watch isn’t broken, you have no pulse because you’re dead on the inside.  In Double-A last year, FTJ had a 16/16/.286 season with a .370 BABIP.  That feels a wee bit high, and his K% was 27.7%.  Honestly, those numbers tell me he could use a little more time in the minors, and he and the Padres have nothing but time.  To throw it back to the lede, he’s 19 years old!  He was eight years old when I started Razzball.  I will now laugh myself into a crying fit.  The Padres will promote Tatis to Triple-A at some point this year, maybe out of the gate in April.  If the Padres start him in Double-A, we have no chance of seeing him in 2019.  If he starts in Triple-A, then just maybe he sees major league action this year.  Absolutely love him in keepers, and maybe in a 15-team NFBC-type league where you have no waivers all year, but, in most redraft leagues, Tatis is going to be a non-entity this year.  For 2019, I’ll give him the projections of 14/3/11/.252/3 in 75 ABs as the Padres give us a taste and prepare us for the 2020 reckoning when Tatis emerges along with Bobby Shmurda.

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Dave D
Dave D
4 years ago

The first DC drafts are just starting in the next few days so ADP’s probably won’t be available until early December.

I might do an early league but probably not this early. I’ll probably do 3 teams in NFBC. Who knows, there’s plenty of time to decide. I usually do 2.

Dave D
Dave D
Reply to  Grey
4 years ago

@Grey:

Yeah, most of me agrees, and the earliest I ever started a DC was on 1/30. However, a small part if me thinks I’d be better off ignoring a lot of prospects and spring training nonsense, and just drafting serviceable vets from round 26 onward. Like, when I ignore the Nick Senzels of the world and draft the Daniel Descalso’s and Kurt Suzuki’s in, say, rounds 32 and 33, things usually turn out better. Maybe I’m better when I don’t get affected by hype and just draft conservatively and even-handedly. I think my best pics ever have actually been rebounding vets anyway (guys like Maybin rd41, Kemp rd 25 etc.

Dave D
Dave D
4 years ago

Sign ups have begun for NFBC draft champions/cutline with leagues filling now.

Time to sign up to draft Tatis, Grey?

Harley Earl
Harley Earl
4 years ago

I can only hope Urias helps ease my pain.

I’ve had him since he was 16 years old. He’s 22 now. That’s a six year investment with no return so far. I need him to be what everyone says he is.

This game can be cruel. Oh, by the way, did I mention I owned Jose Fernandez?

Harley Earl
Harley Earl
Reply to  Grey
4 years ago

@Grey: Yeah, I was a huge Jose Fernandez fan. Just loved the guy’s passion and approach for the game. Hate that he’s gone. Baseball lost a great one.

Harley Earl
Harley Earl
4 years ago

Tatis will haunt me for eternity. I drafted him two years ago.

I was way out in front of everybody on him, and I mean everybody in fantasy, including everyone here. Knew he was special. I had targeted him since 2015. But when it came the middle of the season in 2016 and Julio Urias got sent to the minors and then had shoulder capsulate surgery, I found myself in a roster crunch needing the spot more than a prospect. I put Urias on my minor league roster and dropped Tatis.

Big. Mistake. … No. … Big. Fucking. Mistake.

If this were real life, I would have already put a bullet in my Ooolah Oblah Gollah.

Dave D
Dave D
4 years ago

I look forward to the second coming of Tatis. However, all this Junior talk has me thinking of the greatest tragedy of our lifetime… that there is no Rickey Henderson Jr. If there was a #1 overall all-time fantasy baseball player to clone, he is it. There is not a leadoff man in MLB now that can hold a candle to him. I’m yawning, Fernando. The tears are welling up in my eyes. We miss you, Rickey!

Dave D
Dave D
Reply to  Grey
4 years ago

@Grey:

Yeah, but I imagine he still could whether 1st or 3rd person. He will be 60 years young this coming Christmas day. Amazing how time flies.

Dave D
Dave D
Reply to  Grey
4 years ago

@Grey:

Good point, and so could John Kruk carrying a milkshake, I bet.

Ante Galic
Ante Galic
4 years ago

Grey!!!

Great write-up!

a. Sorry late again! This is becoming a habit. Was busy?

b. Love me some Tatis Jr. Hopefully he’ll be better than his pa.

c. Mark Twain quote of the day for November 12

It is the strangest thing that the world is not full of books that scoff at the pitiful world and the useless universe and the violent contemptible human race. Why don’t I write such a book? Because I have a family. There is no other reason.

Cheers,
Ante

Ante Galic
Ante Galic
Reply to  Grey
4 years ago

@Grey: Grey!!

a. There is still time, I’ll stick around until around December 15-ish for the quotes, if you’ll still have me.

b. Was busy. Had to make breakfast and lunch for our daughter. She’s not disabled, she could do it herself but then she gets angry and I don’t want that. I’m a Canadian and we’re peacekeepers. I come in peace. More or less.

c. Sorry for the fires, man.

Cheers,
Ante

Peacecoast
Peacecoast
4 years ago

first post son!

Fuck Tatis. Thoughts on Mallex moving to Seattle? Every day PT right? Project!

Peacecoast
Peacecoast
Reply to  Peacecoast
4 years ago

@Peacecoast: wtf is this

What's My Vector Victor Victor
What's My Vector Victor Victor
Reply to  Peacecoast
4 years ago

@Peacecoast:

What it looks like is you were so eager to win that you double-clicked “Post” before it loaded, then you doubled down and commented on your own duplicate post thereby becoming the definition of “that guy.” Congratulations you won and lost at the same time.

Peacecoast
Peacecoast
Reply to  What's My Vector Victor Victor
4 years ago

@What’s My Vector Victor Victor: you have amused me

Peacecoast
Peacecoast
4 years ago

first post son!

Fuck Tatis. Thoughts on Mallex moving to Seattle? Every day PT right? Project!

Peacecoast
Peacecoast
Reply to  Grey
4 years ago

@Grey: A Star is Born. See it? I loved the first 45 minutes. Then it dragged. They both did a great job though.

When are you moving again?

Peacecoast
Peacecoast
Reply to  Grey
4 years ago

@Grey: aight, looks stressful