"I Have Failed": Tatis Jr. Speaks For 1st Time Since Suspension

Fernando Tatis Jr. finally faced the music on Tuesday. More specifically, he faced the media—and by extension, his fans. He apologized profusely and repeatedly for his "mistake" of ingesting a banned substance which led to his 80-game suspension for violating baseball's PED policy. 

"I'm truly sorry," he told reporters. "… I have let so many people down. I have lost so much love from people. I have failed."

Fernando Tatis Jr.’s opening statement to the media: pic.twitter.com/g7jUh1LHGs

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) August 23, 2022

"There's no other one to blame but myself… I'm going to remember how this feels, and I'm not going to put myself in this position ever again. I know I have a lot of love I have to gain back. I have a lot of work to do. It's going to be a very long process.

"My dreams have turned into my worst nightmares... I haven't made the right decisions."

Tatis signed a 14-year, $340M contract extension in 2021, and since then, has had a careless offseason motorcycle accident that fractured his wrist, causing him to miss the entire season up until his suspension for PEDs was announced earlier this month. 

Some Padres weighed in on Fernando Tatis Jr.'s suspension pic.twitter.com/ebMxbMHmPP

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) August 13, 2022

His teammates had already expressed some strong opinions of Tatis's need to "grow up", "show remorse", and show "commitment" to the team. He hopes that with his statements on Tuesday, he has started that process.

Photos: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports, Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports