Fernando Tatis Sr. Isn't Helping His Son
Fernando Tatis Jr.'s suspension for performance-enhancing drug use rocked Major League Baseball on Friday. The 23-year-old San Diego Padres superstar tested positive for Clostebol, an anabolic steroid. Since that revelation Tatis and his family have continually maintained he took the substance accidentally. On Monday, his father, Fernando Tatis Sr. continued talking about it when he really should just shut up.
The elder Tatis was quoted saying the following (it is translated from the original Spanish):
Fernando Tatis Sr.: "What involves him (Tatis Jr.) is a steroid that contains a spray called trofobol... He got a fungus due to a haircut. His mistake was not reading what it contains, which is what apparently makes him guilty of something totally unknown".
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) August 15, 2022
It is true that Trofobol does contain Clostebol and can be used on skin irritations. Is this story credible? It's hard to believe anything at this point.
Tatis Sr. continued:
Fernando Tatis Sr: "It was a mistake that could have been handled differently, destroy the image of a player for such a small thing, for a situation like this. Is a catastrophe not just for Tatis Jr, but for all baseball. There’s millions of fans that will stop watching baseball"
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) August 15, 2022
"Millions" is a bit of a stretch there, but I digress.
Fernando Tatis Sr.: "All of this has happened because of something that is not worth this issue. This is something for the skin, that’s something that’s not performance enhancing and has no testosterone. It has nothing to help you improve in the game."
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) August 15, 2022
So basically, Tatis Sr. is saying his son took something for a medical condition. He doesn't believe it is actually performance-enhancing and that it was a simple mistake and he shouldn't be completely discredited as a result.
While this sounds like a dad standing up for his son, he's not actually helping here. Tatis Jr. needs to address this directly. If it was truly a mistake or oversight, he should have nothing to hide. Come clean, address it, apologize and say you're going to be more careful and focused moving forward. And don't just do it in a written statement. Give an interview.
If he did that, people would forgive eventually.
There are some who will always question him moving forward, but he's never going to change their minds anyway. The apology and promise to do better should be aimed squarely at his teammates and Padres fans. And it should come soon.
By letting his dad talk for him, Tatis Jr. is only losing credibility.
And, unfortunately, his dad just kept talking:
Fernando Tatis Sr.: “This has really been a catastrophe and a terrible situation for baseball and for Tatis Jr. name. This is part of the envy and the hypocrisy that is around Junior, even within some of his teammates. This is really sad. Junior’s image is now down on the ground” pic.twitter.com/q7PiH9iXYX
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) August 16, 2022