The Texas Rangers think Fernando Tatis jr. Should have been looking for a walk instead of a grand slam in the eighth inning Monday night.
Tatis Jr. came in eighth on the plate with his San Diego Padres 10-3 over the Rangers. After working on a 3-0 count on Juan Nicasio, Tatis swung on the fourth field and slammed the baseball over the wall from the right for a 14-3 lead from Padres.
The Rangers were apparently not happy that they were giving up a grand slam. And not satisfied that the 21-year-old Tatis had the nerve to swing into that count with his team seven up. It was his 11th homer of the season.
“I think there are a lot of unwritten rules that are constantly being challenged in today’s game,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said at his news conference after the game. “Yes, I personally did not like it. You stand at seven in the eighth inning – it is typically not a good time to swing 3-0. It’s kind of the way we all grew up in the game. But, like I said, the norms are challenged on a daily basis, so just because I don’t like them, does not mean it is not good. I do not think we liked it as a group. ”
That’s not going to be the case after Tatis’s home run. Nicasio was replaced by Ian Gibaut and Gibaut immediately threw a pitch behind Manny Machado.
Tatis missed a task sign?
Tatis was apparently told he did not have to swing on that Nicasio field, but the Rangers seem to believe that Tatis did not need a take-out sign not to swing.
“I’ve been in this game since I was a kid, and I know a lot of unwritten rules,” Tatis said. “But this time I did not have it.”
Padres manager Jayce Tingler said after the game that because the Padres were running seven times at the time, Tatis actually got a sign to take that field.
“Just to make sure we get the signs 3-0 in that game,” Tingler said after the game about what he told Tatis. ‘Just to take care and he’s young, a free spirit and straight and all that stuff and that’s the last thing we’ll ever take. It’s a learning opportunity and that’s it and he will grow out of it. ”
Tatis said Tingler told him the take sign was on after he returned to the dugout.
“He told me I got the sign to take a pitch and I told him right away that it was on me. I didn’t look into it,” Tatis said.
The grand slam gave Tatis the only possession of the MLB home team lead after the Angels’ Mike Trout hit his 10th home lead earlier in the evening. Tatis, who hit seven runs Monday night, also has the MLB lead with 28 RBI. Although the Rangers would certainly argue with three of those. They would much rather have had Tatis take a walk to ride in a run.
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