Padres Manager Very Unhappy Pitchers Are Trying To Throw Inside On Fernando Tatis Jr.

San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt has been a professional baseball coach for several decades and is in his fourth season in the Major Leagues as a manager. Normally, it'd be a safe assumption at this point in his career that he understands how the sport works, yet comments after Friday night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks seem to indicate otherwise.

Shildt spoke to reporters and angrily criticized opposing teams for trying to get Fernando Tatis Jr., the team's best player, out by throwing him inside. 

"We're seeing way too many pitches up and in on Tati,’’ Shildt said. "It's enough. It really is enough. If you want to throw in, that's fine. But I don't know what people are trying to accomplish by throwing up and in. All you're doing is pissing the guy off, and it's uncalled for."

"It's happening way too frequently, and it's not something that we're going to tolerate much longer."

Shildt's outburst was seemingly a result of a pitch thrown in the ninth inning by Diamondbacks reliever Scott McGough that sailed up and in, forcing Tatis to bail out.

That can't have been a comfortable experience; understandably so. But do Shildt's complaints about him facing a disproportionate number of high and inside pitches hold up to scrutiny? Unfortunately for him, we now have plenty of data, thanks to MLB's Baseball Savant page.

Phoenix - San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. dodges a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the ninth inning at Chase Field on May 3. Photo: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Pitchers Throwing Inside To Fernando Tatis Jr Because That's Where He Struggles

There's two ways to attack Shildt's quote; one being whether Tatis does actually see a ton of pitches high and inside, and the other being whether or not it's an obvious zone for opposing pitchers to attack.

To address the first, we can see from Baseball Savant what percentage of pitches Tatis sees that are in the high, inside quadrant.

Turns out it's just 8.8 percent of pitches thrown to him that would be considered up and in. 13.1 percent are actually low and in, and the largest percentage, by far, are pitches outside and down. That's not an unusual distribution for an elite power hitter; generally, hitters like Tatis generate the most force by getting their arms extended. The traditional strategy to combat that would be to either not let them get that extension by throwing inside, or by making them believe they can hit a pitch that's actually spinning off the plate.

There's also an element of changing eye levels; throw high and low, avoid the middle of the zone to keep him off balance.

The heat map distribution of pitches he's faced also shows that pattern.

Low and away is by far the most popular location, along with some mistakes out over the middle.

But is 8.8 percent still a high percentage for pitches up and in? To find out, we can compare to another elite power hitter with a similar profile: Ronald Acuna Jr. 

Acuna actually faces substantially more pitches up and in than Tatis does, 13.2 percent compared to 8.8 percent. And sure enough, the largest percentage of pitches are down and away.

This is exactly what teams would tell their pitchers to do against elite hitters like Tatis and Acuna; bust them inside so they can't get extended, or pound the outside corner with breaking balls and hope they chase. Shildt is throwing a fit when Tatis is actually facing fewer high and inside pitches than someone of a similar talent level.

But that's just one comparison. What about Shohei Ohtani, another elite power hitter?

8.7%, almost identical to the 8.8% Tatis has seen.

How about Manny Machado, his Padres teammate?

8.5% compared to 8.8%, with a ton of pitches low and away. Seeing a pattern yet?

But maybe Shildt has a point that Tatis is facing more pitches up and in than in years past. Here's a chart of pitches to Tatis from 2020-2023.

Over the past three seasons (Tatis didn't play in the 2022 regular season), 8.6% of pitches thrown to him have been up and in. In 2024 it's 8.8%. Nothing to see there either.

What about the second part of the argument though? Does it make sense to throw pitches up and inside to Tatis, given his particular skill set? Baseball Savant has us covered there too.

Tatis does not have a single hit on pitches in off the plate this year. He's hitting .053 on pitches outside and below the zone. If you miss on the plate though, he'll make you pay; hitting .389 and .318 on pitches low and on the outside part of the plate.

It isn't rocket science; it's just classic baseball strategy. 

Unfortunately for Tatis, pitchers aren't perfect, and when trying to throw inside, sometimes they'll miss. Given the way Tatis' stance takes him towards the plate during his stride, sometimes those pitches are going to get uncomfortably close.

Shildt isn't new to baseball, and neither is Tatis. They both have to understand that this is textbook pitching; because it's a near certainty that Padres pitchers would attack someone like Ronald Acuna the same way. Shildt obviously wants to stick up for his player, but there's nothing to stick up for. 

Welcome to the big leagues, guys.