When the full rosters for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game were revealed, the usual gripes about players who were left off the list followed. Of course, most of these complaints end up being premature, as many players are added as injury replacements in the days leading up to the Midsummer Classic itself. But the absence of Padres star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. drew an interesting explanation from a prominent MLB insider.
The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal wrote on Sunday that Tatis was omitted from the National League roster by his fellow players, at least in part, as a measure of further punishment for his past use of performance enhancing drugs. Tatis was levied an 80-game suspension in August of last year, and missed the first 20 games of 2023 before making his season debut on April 20.
“It is still rare for a player to openly criticize a teammate or rival who is caught using PEDs,” Rosenthal wrote. “But when it comes to Tatis, I can picture players sitting at lockers filling out their [All-Star] ballots and thinking, “F— this guy.”
Rosenthal notes that Tatis is not viewed as a “pariah” by the league or the players union, but that an endorsement to head to the All-Star Game is considered a “separate matter.”
Despite missing the first part of the season, Tatis has had an excellent first half. He’s batting .280/.341/.526 with 16 home runs and 14 stolen bases in 64 games entering Monday, ranking sixth among all qualified outfielders with 3.2 WAR, per FanGraphs.
