Dominican Jeter? How the career paths of Fernando Tatis Jr. and The Captain intersect

Before Fernando Tatis Jr. achieved Major League stardom and became one of the faces of baseball, he was yet another teenage prospect from the Dominican Republic — albeit one with a big league pedigree. Prior to signing his first deal with the Chicago White Sox, Tatis impressed Marco Paddy, the club’s international scouting director, with his desire to become “the Dominican Derek Jeter.”

It remains a goal he’s held onto throughout the years. “When I see Derek Jeter, I see respect, and that’s what I want to be,” Tatis told ESPN’s Jeff Passan in 2020.

When Tatis makes his 2022 debut after completing his recovery from a wrist injury, the moment will mark the beginning of an abbreviated fourth season with the San Diego Padres. In 1998, Jeter’s fourth year with the New York Yankees culminated in a World Series win via four-game sweep over San Diego, as detailed in the second episode of the ESPN Films documentary “The Captain”.

It is presumptuous to assume Tatis will end his fourth season in the same fashion — even after the Padres’ big trade deadline acquisitions — but there are plenty of reasons to believe Tatis will continue to build a résumé worthy of comparison to Jeter.

In 2020, when the Padres visited the Miami Marlins in late July, Tatis blasted his 30th homer of the season, reaching the mark after just 82 games. In doing so, he became only the third shortstop to hit 30 home runs in a season before age 23. Jeter, then the Marlins’ CEO, had given Tatis the proverbial tip of the cap before the game.

“He can do everything,” Jeter said. “He’s a lot of fun to watch, whether it’s defense, offense, running the bases.

After the Padres acquired Tatis in a 2016 trade with the White Sox for pitcher James Shields, hype built quickly within the organization as Tatis tore through the minors.

“The first time I watched him play was in 2017, in a prospects game at Petco Park,” said Padres outfielder Wil Myers, the longest-tenured player…