Fernando Tatis Jr. #

Introduction #

Fernando Tatis Jr. (born January 2, 1999) is a Dominican professional baseball star who burst into the majors with the San Diego Padres in 2019. Nicknamed “El Niño,” he signed a 14-year, $340 million contract extension before the 2021 season and led the National League with 42 home runs that year. On August 12, 2022, Major League Baseball suspended the then-23-year-old for 80 games after he tested positive for Clostebol, an anabolic steroid, making him one of the most prominent players ever penalized for performance-enhancing drugs.

Background Information #

Tatis was born in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic, the son of former big leaguer Fernando Tatis Sr. The White Sox signed him as an international free agent in 2015, and before he had played a professional game the Padres acquired him in a June 2016 trade for James Shields. He debuted on March 28, 2019, won Silver Slugger Awards in 2020 and 2021, and signed a 14-year, $340 million extension — at the time the third-richest in MLB history. In his first All-Star season, 2021, he led the National League with 42 home runs while posting a .282/.364/.611 line with 97 RBIs.

Tatis missed the entire 2022 season after fracturing the scaphoid bone in his left wrist — believed to stem from a December 2021 motorcycle accident in the Dominican Republic — and he underwent surgery on March 16, 2022. He began a rehabilitation assignment with Double-A San Antonio on August 6, 2022, and the Padres, who had just traded for Juan Soto, expected him back within weeks.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

On August 12, 2022, shortly before the Padres’ 10-5 win over the Washington Nationals, MLB announced that Tatis had been suspended 80 games without pay after testing positive for Clostebol, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the league’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The suspension was effective immediately: Tatis would miss the remaining 48 regular-season games, any postseason games the Padres played would count toward the 80, and he would serve the rest at the start of the 2023 season.

In a statement released through the players’ union, Tatis said he was “completely devastated” and explained the positive test: “It turns out that I inadvertently took a medication to treat ringworm that contained Clostebol. I should have used the resources available to me in order to ensure that no banned substances were in what I took. I failed to do so.” He apologized to the Padres organization, his teammates, Major League Baseball and “fans everywhere for my mistake,” insisted “I have no excuse for my error, and I would never do anything to cheat or disrespect this game I love,” and said that after initially appealing, he had “realized that my mistake was the cause of this result” and would serve the suspension immediately.

The explanation drew skepticism — Clostebol is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, and Freddy Galvis and Dee Strange-Gordon are among major leaguers previously suspended for using it. On Monday, August 15, Tatis’s father offered a different account: Fernando Tatis Sr. said his son had used a spray to treat a fungus from a haircut and failed to read what the spray contained. “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,” Tatis Sr. said, adding that “millions of fans will stop watching baseball” because of the suspension.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The Padres said they were “surprised and extremely disappointed” and “hopeful that Fernando will learn from this experience.” General manager A.J. Preller said the team had invested time and money in Tatis and that “these things only work when there’s trust both ways.” Teammates were stunned: “Shocked everybody,” Manny Machado said, calling the news “devastating” and “a terrible thing,” while manager Bob Melvin called it “a blow for us.” Pitcher Mike Clevinger said, “This is the second time we’ve been disappointed with him. You hope he grows up and learns from this.”

Because the suspension was without pay, Tatis forfeited $1,510,989 of his $5 million 2022 salary and about $1.39 million of his 2023 salary — total losses estimated at $2.9 million to $3.2 million. He was ineligible for the postseason and for the Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic roster the following March, and on August 27, 2022, Adidas dropped him: “We believe that sport should be fair. We have a clear policy on doping and can confirm that our partnership with Fernando Tatis Jr. will not continue.”

Current Status #

Tatis served the remainder of the suspension at the start of the 2023 season — after the Padres’ 2022 postseason games counted toward the 80-game ban, he missed the first 20 games of 2023. He returned in April 2023 after a Triple-A stint with the El Paso Chihuahuas, and he moved to right field after the Padres signed shortstop Xander Bogaerts. In 2023 he won a Gold Glove after leading all National League defenders with 27 defensive runs saved, plus a Platinum Glove, while slashing .257/.322/.449 with 25 home runs in 141 games.

He has since re-established himself among baseball’s elite, with All-Star selections in 2024 and 2025, a second Platinum Glove in 2025, and 46 home runs across the 2024–25 seasons, and his 14-year, $340 million contract remained intact throughout.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The suspension checked the rise of a player ESPN had ranked the most entertaining in baseball in 2020 and canceled the season San Diego had built around him — a lineup of Soto, Tatis and Machado chasing the franchise’s first World Series title. Instead Tatis did not play a single major league game in 2022 and joined the biggest names suspended for PEDs since penalties began in 2004, alongside Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Robinson Canó and Miguel Tejada. The positive test cost him millions in forfeited salary and his Adidas endorsement, and Preller made clear the organization’s trust would have to be rebuilt.

But the cancellation proved temporary. Tatis returned in 2023, won consecutive Gold Gloves and Platinum Gloves as a converted right fielder, regained All-Star status in 2024 and 2025, and remains the centerpiece of the Padres under his historic contract. The ban attached a permanent asterisk to the rise of “El Niño,” and his ringworm excuse endures as one of baseball’s most disputed explanations — yet his rebound also makes the 2022 cancellation one of the most successfully reversed in recent baseball history.