San Diego Padres SS/OF Fernando Tatis Jr. is one of the most talented baseball players in the world and obviously rather important to fantasy baseball managers, but today he is among the most dropped players in ESPN fantasy leagues. He will play nary a game this season, just the same as you and I, after being suspended 80 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing steroid. It's one thing for Tatis to miss the final six weeks of this season, but now the start of his 2023 season is compromised as well.
Tatis would have been one of the top players in fantasy drafts -- if not the top option -- after hitting 42 home runs and stealing 25 bases over 130 games last season. He slid in ESPN average live drafts after mid-March reports came out that he had fractured his left wrist in an offseason motorcycle accident, requiring surgery. Still, he was expected to play roughly half the season. This is why his ADP had him being taken in Round 8 of ESPN drafts -- and considerably earlier in national contests. Even in half a season, the impactful Tatis would surely carry eager fantasy managers! His debut had been delayed but he seemed likely to join the Padres this week, after he finished up a rehab assignment.