For young players, immaturity is a feature (not a bug)

Some San Diego Padres fans are angry at Fernando Tatis Jr. for being the same person off the field that he is on it.

Let’s start here: Fernando Tatis Jr. has a fractured wrist. He very likely broke the wrist during a motorcycle accident in December. He likely needs surgery and 10-12 weeks to heal before he can start playing baseball again.

Now, there is a lot wrapped up in those statements. The San Diego Padres fanbase is angry and filled with questions.

My stance is that it’s silly to put the same level of off-the-field expectations on a 23 year old that you would normally reserve for someone 5-10 years older just because he signed a big contract earlier than most. Am I sad that he’s hurt? Sure, and so is he. Do I think he needed to change who he was just because he signed a contract? Not necessarily.

But let’s back up just a tad. This is Fernando Tatis Jr. This is the guy who dances in the batters box in between pitches. The guy who spit in the face of baseball’s staid culture and started flipping his bat to the moon. The guy who added a special hop-skip into his home run trot just to rub the opponent’s face in it.

For a great majority of the things that we cheer on Fernando Tatis Jr. for doing, an older and more mature player would not do those things. Tagging up from 3rd on an infield pop? Are you crazy? Taking a lead at 1st so big that you know you can’t beat the ball back to the bag (but can probably avoid the tag)? Insanity.

The great thing about young athletes is that they don’t yet know what they can’t do, and they’ve never not been able to do something, so they try everything. It results in some of the coolest moments you’ll find in any sport, because those players don’t believe in (or fear) failure yet.

And the great thing about signing Tatis to a 14-year deal is that a wasted season, or half-season, amounts to somewhere around 5% of the total length of the contract. There’s no urgency here.

We all knew, including the Padres, that Tatis would have to grow up at some point. He would have to stop swinging his shoulder out of the socket. He would have to stop diving for every ball at shortstop. He would have to stop riding motorcycles and doing everything at max effort, because at some point his contract and/or body would tell him no. The chances of him finding that maturity without a major or semi-major injury were probably slim, or at least it would’ve taken longer.

Don’t focus on the bad. Don’t be mad at the contract and don’t pretend now that what you really wanted all along was for Tatis to reign in his reckless spirit. This is a turning point in his career, and we’ll likely talk about the things he used to do “when he first came up to the majors” with a sense of wistfulness.

When you’re young, you don’t know what you can’t do. You are stopped only by the extent of your imagination until your body or the world says no. Tatis just hit that point. His contract says no. His body is saying no. He’s a smart kid with some great mentors leading him, he’ll be fine.

It was never going to be 14 years without some lessons learned. Nobody’s career progression is linear. Once you remember that, it’s easier to let go of your anger at Tatis and look forward to the player he’ll be after this ordeal. And once you get there, pour one out for the days when Tatis was limitless.