Kade McClure, a pitcher in the San Francisco Giants' system, responded to giving up a home run in a Triple-A game to Fernando Tatis Jr. by taking to Twitter to call the San Diego Padres star a "cheater."
Tatis is currently on a rehab assignment at the Triple-A level playing for the El Paso Chihuahuas. He is working his way back from an 80-game suspension for failing a drug test for Clostebol, an anabolic steroid.
After throwing a pitch that Tatis blasted into left field for a home run, McClure -- who plays for the Giants-affiliated Sacramento River Cats -- quote-tweeted a video of the play by correcting someone who claimed he would be talking for years about the play.
He called out Tatis for using steroids and ending up at the minor league level:
**cheater hits a homerun on a rehab assignment during a steroid suspension** https://t.co/1gTgo9Pa8a
— Kade McClure (@kademcc) April 6, 2023
Tatis missed all of last season with a wrist injury in addition to his suspension, and his AAA assignment marks his first official baseball action in over a year as he prepares to rejoin the Padres.
Tatis will be eligible to return to San Diego on April 20, the first game of a four-game tilt against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Tatis also appeared in 16 games during spring training, putting together a stat line of .273/.340/.432 with two home runs.
