Watching the sweat-soaked symphony that is Fernando Tatis Jr. playing baseball revolves around a series of exhilarating, concerned breaths — from the ones he makes you hold to the ones he takes away.
It’s the ultimate risk-reward situation, packaged in a contorting, blink-at-your own risk, 6-3, 185-pound frame. The things Tatis Jr. does, even at 20, already border on singular by Major League Baseball standards. By default, the positions he puts his body in are singular as well.
That’s why pulling him from the lineup — as the Padres did because of back spasms leading into Wednesday’s 7-2 win over the Rays at Petco Park — illustrated the unique price of his bruising, Mach 3 approach to baseball.