MLB fans mock San Diego Padres faithful for welcoming Fernando Tatis Jr. back in first home game since 2021

San Diego Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. was given a rousing ovation as he took the field for his first home game since 2021.

Tatis' suspension for PED use was lifted on April 20, and the shortstop-turned-right fielder has been in the Padres' lineup ever since. Yet, all of San Diego's games have been on the road — or in Mexico City — since.

Monday night was the first chance for most Padres fans to tell Tatis how much they missed him, and the one-time MLB poster boy reciprocated the love with a bow to those in the seats at Petco Park.

However, for the majority of the MLB universe not located in southwest California, the occasion of Fernando Tatis Jr.'s homecoming cast aspersions on the San Diego Padres fan base.

An offseason motorcycle accident kept Tatis off the field for much of the 2022 season. Then, just before he was about to return in August, MLB handed down the PED suspension and ended his year early. Many fans have not, and likely will never forgive Tatis for the transgression.

A lot has changed since Fernando Tatis Jr. last played in a San Diego Padres uniform. The team has flipped its script from a sub-.500 team to a World Series contender.

Tatis missed out on the entirety of the Padres' 2022 season in which the team marched through the first two rounds of the NL playoffs before losing the championship series to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Yet, many wonder if the Padres may have taken the final step and advanced to the team's third World Series if Tatis hadn't been suspended.

But for the majority of Padres fans themselves, it's forgive and forget. San Diego has been rounding into the form that many expected from the start of the season since Tatis returned.

It is believed that with him back, the Padres might just make the long-anticipated run to the World Series and perhaps even win the ballclub's first-ever MLB championship.

Many baseball fans don't understand San Diego's enduring love for Tatis, but the heart wants what the heart wants.

San Diego Padres on the up with Fernando Tatis Jr. back

Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres scores in the first inning

Entering Monday's game, the San Diego Padres are 6-3 since Fernando Tatis Jr. returned. The team is keeping pace in the division race, one game off the lead in the National League West prior to the series opener against the Cincinnati Reds.