San Diego Padres Fernando Tatis Jr. is exiting the first month of the 2026 season with a disappointing .250/.333/.290 line, zero HR, 12 RBI, and 0.0 WAR. A very strange start for a player with a career WAR of 27.2. Nevertheless, not an area of concern, but certainly a step back in run production. 

Tatis Jr. is an elite defender with two Gold Gloves and two Platinum Gloves for his effort. However, for a player to be a Most Valuable Player candidate, the honor is closely tied to an outstanding offensive season. Unfortunately, Tatis Jr.’s output is nothing to write home about.

Tatis Jr. has become a more patient hitter

Granted, we are still in April, but the Friar Faithful want to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The star outfielder seems to be willing to take pitches and be more patient at the plate. Tatis Jr. did not overhaul his swing mechanics but has concentrated on putting more of the bat’s barrel on the ball.

The adjustment has drawn 13 walks in 27 games, which could challenge his career-high 89 BB last season. His walk rate is at 10% for the first month, as he is swinging less and is more willing to take a walk that puts a runner on base for the heart of the batting order.

The lone negative to his start, Tatis Jr. is still striking out at an alarming rate with runners in scoring position. Currently, his walk-to-strikeout rate is nearly 1-2.5, with Tatis Jr.’s strikeout rate at 24.6%. It has led to some missed scoring opportunities, as he has been having trouble putting the ball in the air.

To become a better run-producer, Tatis Jr. must drive the ball

Tatis Jr. has an 18.7% fly ball rate, which is the lowest of his seven-year major league career. Surprisingly, he is hitting a career-high 49.3% groundball rate in 100 at-bats. This combination likely explains his 27-game homerless streak.

Let’s not get too restless, as the newfound plate discipline will result in better quality contact at-bats. The three-time All-Star’s OPS (.623) is decent, but nowhere near his career average of .859. Tatis Jr.’s best mark was .975 in 2021. He wants to put himself into favorable count situations. But Tatis Jr. is failing to lift the ball for extra base hits. 

Despite the slow offensive production, Tatis Jr. is too talented a home run hitter to remain silent much longer. If he goes on a mini spree, his walk rate will likely decline.

He is scorching the ball when making solid contact, but it is right at the waiting glove of a fielder. Tatis Jr. is sporting a robust 66.7% hard-hit rate, well above the league average of 38.6%. He has an exit velocity of 93.3 mph this month. Tatis Jr. is trying to use the whole field and not pull every pitch. Still, you would expect better production than the results have shown.

His newfound plate discipline should provide more hittable situations. At some point, Tatis Jr. will do damage against opposing pitching.

While a clear feature of the 2026 Rockies is Warren Schaeffer changing up lineups depending on the opposing pitcher and analytics, one trend is emerging as a fairly regular trend: Edouard Julien in the leadoff spot.

Julien has hit in the No. 1 spot in 17 of the Rockies 29 games with all of them coming in the last 20. Jake McCarthy served as the leadoff hitter for the first five games of the season, Troy Johnston has done it three times, Tyler Freeman has done it twice and Jordan Beck and Mickey Moniak have each hit No. 1 once.

Overall, Julien is hitting .284/.369/.392 with 12 runs scored, 10 RBI, three doubles, one homer, 10 walks, 21 strikeouts and two stolen bases in 74 at-bats over 25 games. His .369 OBP is the second-best on the team for players with at least 40 at-bats.

Julien’s numbers are even better as the leadoff hitter. He’s hitting .317/.403/.429 with 20 hits, 10 RBI, one homer, two doubles, nine walks and 15 strikeouts in 63 at-bats. His production, along with patient at-bats, which are pretty rare for the Rockies, has made him the clear choice for the Rockies No. 1 hitter.

In spring training, Julien explained that he knows who he is as a hitter and takes pride in having long at-bats and not chasing.

In the first five games of the season, McCarthy had a .158 OBP as the leadoff hitter. The lack of production likely cost him the spot and relegated him to the bench. Johnston and Moniak have proved to be outstanding regardless of their place in the lineup. Unfortunately, Beck is off to a slow start in 2026 and is not getting as much time either.

Freeman was the Rockies most frequent leadoff hitter last year with 72 games in the role. Freeman is a solid choice for his low strikeout rate of 13.5% compared to the MLB average of 22.5%. A true utilityman, he’s hit in every spot in the lineup in his career and the No. 1 spot accounts for the most at the 10.3% of his games. He’s hit .260/.336/.332 with 47 runs, 30 RBI, 22 doubles, one homer, 16 stolen bases, 33 walks and 53 strikeouts in 377 at-bats over 101 games.

Freeman has struggled with some minor health issues to start the season. He started the season on the 10-day IL with lower back inflammation and tightness and was also pulled from the April 20 game with dizziness. Bloodwork came back fine, but playing in only 16 games this far, his vacancy may have opened up a spot for Julien.

Julien, who is in his fourth MLB season and first with the Rockies, is no stranger to the leadoff role. He played the majority of his time there in his first two of three seasons with Minnesota. Including his time with the Rockies, he’s now spent 43.8% of his career as a leadoff man. In his career, he’s hitting .214/.322/.356 with 72 runs scored, 41 RBI, 17 doubles, 15 homers, eight stolen bases and 72 walks with 165 strikeouts in the role in 449 at-bats in 128 games.

After a strong series against the Dodgers, Julien explained his philosophy of putting together quality at-bats.

At least for the foreseeable future, the leadoff spot appears to be Julien’s. With the Rockies off to a 13-16 start, and Colorado going 9-8 with Julien hitting first, it should be.

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The latest news on the Houston Astros and from around MLB:

Astros GM Dana Brown says Manager Joe Espada is NOT in jeopardy of losing his job:

Chandler Rome on where he sees fault lying with the Astros current state and slow start on the Gallant Says podcast with Sportsradio 610’s Paul Gallant:

Tyler Stafford also doesn’t think Espada is to blame for the Astros early season woes – from the Crush City Territory podcast he hosts with Chandler Rome:

Rome also questions if Brown has the authority to fore Espada if he wanted to (and that he currently does NOT want to) on his Crush City Territory podcast:

The Astros will send Kai-Wei Teng to the mound for his first start of the season tomorrow in Baltimore vs. the Orioles:

Teng has been a different pitcher this season for the Astros than he was last year for the Giants:

Teng will now replace the TBD:

Spencer Arrighetti didn’t make the Opening Day roster, but was always expected to be the 6th starter. Things haven’t gone according to play for the Astros, but Arrighetti is currently their best healthy starter:

Christian Walker proving his first half last season was the fluke, not the second half:

After a slow start to the season, Isaac Paredes is finding his groove. Over his last 7 games, he has raised his AVG from .186 to .233, SLG from .254 to .384, OPS from .569 to .710. In that span he is 9×27, 3 HR, 8 RBI:

SP Tatsuya Imai will make his first rehab start Tuesday for Double-A Corpus Christi:

Is Imai getting more comfortable in Houston, in America?

SP Cody Bolton made his first rehab start at Sugar Land Sunday. He pitched 2 innings, allowed 1 run on 2 hits and a walk. He threw 20 pitches, including 13 for strikes:

Yordan Alvarez, Ruler of Worlds:

Chandler Rome with an interesting take on the internet-based rumors of the Astros potentially dealing Yordan Alvarez on the Gallant Says podcast with Sportsradio 610’s Paul Gallant:

When Carlos Correa returned to Houston at the trade deadline last season, he was excited about the opportunity to play 3B and how it would take stress off his body no longer being an everyday SS. Due to multiple injuries to SS Jeremy Pena, Correa has had to primarily play SS. He’s been pretty good his first full season back in Houston:

Is this Astros team just not built to withstand injuries? Chandler Rome on the Crush City Territory Podcast:

Christian Vazquez has been a total steal for the Astros so far:

The Boston Red Sox fired Alex Cora and a bunch of his coaches over the weekend in what looks like a power play by Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. Players are perturbed, media is perplexed, management is not on the same page and the owner is silent, as usual:

Red Sox SP Garrett Crochet has had how many managers now?

Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are the two oldest active players in MLB. They are both now on the IL after tough starts to the season:

Pretty incredible testament to his longevity and ability to overcome adversity throughout his career:

Bacon got cooked:

Former Phillies closer Ricky Bottalico lets loose on the team in it’s own postgame show:

Texas Rangers lineup for April 27, 2026 against the New York Yankees: starting pitchers are Jack Leiter for the Rangers and Max Fried for the Yankees.

The Rangers take on the Yankees in a game that will determine whether the Rangers will be above or below .500 tomorrow.

The lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Jung — 3B

Seager — SS

Burger — 1B

McCutchen — DH

Higashioka — C

Haggerty — LF

Carter — CF

Duran — 2B

7:05 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are +140 underdogs.

These teams meet for the first time since the Cubs defeated the Padres in last year’s tightly-fought Wild Card Series. Both teams are off to good starts in 2026; perhaps they will meet again in October.

For more on the Padres, here’s Matt DeWalt, manager of our SB Nation Padres site Gaslamp Ball.

The San Diego Padres got off to a rough start to the season dropping the first two series at home against the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants, leaving them with a 2-4 record. Since that time, the Padres have won six consecutive series heading into a road matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks in Mexico City. Tons of runs were scored in that two-game set, which the teams split.

The story of the season has been the San Diego bullpen, which is anchored by Mason Miller. The right-hander has been dominant to this point and has thrown 34.2 consecutive innings (including the end of the 2025 season) without allowing a run, while giving up just seven hits with 69 strikeouts. Miller has converted all of his 10 save opportunities on the year.

The starting rotation has taken some hits with Yu Darvish out for the season, Joe Musgrove still not back after Tommy John surgery in 2024, and Nick Pivetta being placed on the IL with a flexor strain. Michael King leads the staff and is joined by Randy Vasquez, Walker Buehler and German Marquez. Matt Waldron was called up from Triple-A, but did not look good in his first two starts against the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies.

The San Diego offense has shown signs of life and appears to have discovered some of the slug that was missing during the 2025 season. The most surprising player without a home run for the Padres is Fernando Tatis Jr. He is still contributing with hits and driving in and scoring runs, but the goose egg in the HR column is a bit alarming to the Friar Faithful. Ramon Laureano has solidified the leadoff spot and has been one of the best offensive players for San Diego along with Xander Bogaerts.

New Padres manager Craig Stammen has shown a willingness to shakeup the lineup and has stressed his desire to make rest days a priority for players like Manny Machado, Jake Cronenworth and Bogaerts. He uses his bench depth to achieve that goal. Stammen seems to be pulling all the right levers as his team sits at 18-9 and is tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West lead. We will have to see if Stammen and the San Diego roster can maintain this level of play as the season progresses.

Fun facts

San Diego is the only current National League city other than Chicago at which the Cubs have a winning record. They are 133-129, .508.

But they lost two of three each of the past two years, after having split four games in 2023. From 2018-22, the Cubs had gone 9-4 in San Diego.

(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

Probable pitching matchups

Monday: Matthew Boyd, LHP (1-1, 5.79 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, 1.56 FIP) vs. Randy Vasquez, RHP (2-0, 1.88 ERA, 1.081 WHIP, 2.53 FIP)

Tuesday: Edward Cabrera, RHP (2-0, 2.73 ERA, 1.180 WHIP, 3.63 FIP) vs. Walker Buehler, RHP (1-2, 5.75 ERA, 1.623 WHIP, 3.27 FIP)

Wednesday: Jameson Taillon, RHP (1-1, 4.55 ERA, 1.301 WHIP, 6.02 FIP) vs. Matt Waldron, RHP (0-1, 12.46 ERA, 2.308 WHIP, 6.24 FIP)

Times & TV channels

Monday: 8:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, streaming on Peacock (Padres broadcast)

Tuesday: 8:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Padres market territories)

Wednesday: 3:10 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network

Prediction

This will not be an easy series. The Padres are a very good team and are 9-4 at home this year. They’ve had to travel from Denver to Mexico City to San Diego over the last week, though. Maybe they’ll be tired from playing at altitude for a week. (Yes, I’m reaching.) I’m going to say the Cubs will get good outings from Boyd and Cabrera and win two of three.

Up next

The Cubs have Thursday off, then return to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks beginning Friday afternoon.

The Yankees ran out their longest win streak of the season this past week, getting eight in a row before dropping the final game of their set with Houston on Sunday. Thus far the team’s performance has come in three waves, with two stretches of dominant play sandwiching a terrible stretch where they couldn’t buy a run. The pitching has been fairly consistently the wing of the roster that’s been performing, but the offense has warmed up with the weather and found its footing of late.

All of this has the Yankees sitting atop the AL East as the month of April is nearly concluded, and the expected competition in the Red Sox and Blue Jays have been struggling out of the gate. Boston even made the surprising decision to fire their manager Alex Cora alongside several members of their coaching staff shortly after getting swept by New York. Has the landscape of the division changed with how these teams have performed, or will they remain thorns in the Yankees’ side? Will Jasson Domínguez find a consistent role on the team after getting called up in the wake of Luis Gil’s demotion? How will Anthony Volpe look when he returns to take over the shortstop gig? If you have questions like these, or anything else on your mind, send ‘em in for a chance to be featured in our Yankees mailbag.

Answers will run on Friday afternoon. All questions received by the night of April 30th will be considered. You can leave your submissions in the comment section below or by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.