WASHINGTON (AP) — On a night when Juan Soto was celebrated by his old team, his new team was more concerned about a player who wasn’t there — Fernando Tatis Jr.
Soto had two hits and got a standing ovation in his return to Washington, and the San Diego Padres beat the Nationals 10-5 on Friday night after Tatis was suspended 80 games for a positive drug test.
“This is a blow for us,” San Diego manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ll have to move on. I’m glad we made the moves we did over the deadline.”
Soto, one of the best hitters in baseball at age 23 and a World Series champion in 2019 with Washington, was traded to San Diego on Aug. 2, a deal that became even more significant when the Padres learned Tatis would miss the rest of the season and the first 32 games next year. He tested positive for Clostebol, an anabolic steroid he said he took inadvertently as part of a medication.
San Diego holds the third NL wild-card spot, and general manager A.J. Preller said during the game that Tatis’ suspension doesn’t change his expectations for the season, although he added the team’s trust in Tatis has waned.
The Padres also obtained slugging first baseman Josh Bell from rebuilding Washington.
“If Tatis comes back, maybe this offense picks up without all those deals, but we weren’t counting on that,” Preller said. “So I think now looking back on it it’s probably more important the deals went down.”
San Diego players said they felt the team is strong enough to contend without Tatis, though they were taken aback by the news.
“Obviously it’s terrible to hear,” third baseman Manny Machado said. “Hearing that he’s going to get suspended for 80 games and not be a part of what we’re trying to accomplish here is something you don’t want to…