The 2019 MLB season kicked off with a bang on Thursday as history was made all throughout the league, including at Dodger Stadium where the Los Angeles Dodgers clubbed an Opening Day-record eight home runs to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Elsewhere in the National League West, history was also made at Petco Park, where the San Diego Padres hosted the San Francisco Giants.
The Padres surprised a lot of people this past week when they announced that instead of manipulating his service time to get an extra year of club control, top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. had made their Opening Day Major League roster.
At just 20 years of age, Tatis became the youngest player to start and record a hit on Opening Day since Adrian Beltre did so for the Dodgers in 1994. Tatis is also now the youngest player to have a hit in his first plate appearance on Opening Day since Ken Griffey Jr. did so for the Seattle Mariners in 1989.
Tatis made his MLB debut on Thursday, starting at shortstop and batting sixth for the Padres. Beltre was in his second season with the Dodgers when he started on Opening Day in ’94.
Beltre went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts in an 11-inning win over the Diamondbacks that day, while Tatis went 2-for-3 with a walk in San Diego’s victory.
With the addition of former Dodger Manny Machado this past offseason, the Padres will have one of the most formidable left sides of the infield in baseball for the next handful of years with him at third base and Tatis at shortstop.
