WASHINGTON — Not quite 24 hours after the world learned that Fernando Tatis Jr. had received an 80-game PED suspension, a couple of San Diego Padres fans in backward baseball caps watched the team take batting practice on a perfect summer Saturday in Washington, D.C. One wore a jersey that had originally said “Tatis Jr.” over the No. 23 on the back, except now masking tape covered the name and “Soto” was written over top. It almost works, 22, 23 — close enough.
The ironic thing is, a weekend that was supposed to be about Juan Soto had turned into a referendum on the absence of Tatis and an open question about whether the feats of the former would suffice as cover-up for the sins of the latter.