CHULA VISTA, Calif. — A mural depicting San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. was painted in Chula Vista ahead of his return to the lineup Thursday.
The Padres superstar slugger will return from an 80-game PED suspension Thursday night in Arizona.
The mural was done by Ground Floor Murals, which has done several Padres-themed projects around San Diego County, depicting team legends like Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman, current stars like Manny Machado, Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish and even the renowned “San Diegoose.”
The new Tatis Jr. mural is located in the alley of Third Avenue and Davidson Street in Chula Vista.
The mural depicts Tatis Jr. with the caption “The wait is over” in anticipation of his return to the Padres lineup after missing the entire 2022 season due to injury and suspension.
“For me personally, I’ve been waiting for this Tatis thing for a while,” said second-year manager Bob Melvin. “I’m really looking forward to that. I want to write his name in the lineup card and he wants to get back in the lineup, so it’s exciting.”
The Chula Vista art piece will be the second one done by Ground Floor Murals of Tatis Jr. The other one of “El Niño” is in Ocean Beach.
The return of the 2021 National League MVP finalist could not come any sooner for the Padres, who currently sit in third place in the NL West standings with a 9-11 record.
The San Diego Padres take on the Arizona Diamondbacks Thursday night at 6:40 p.m. PT.
