Fernando Tatis Sr. Isn't Helping His Son

Fernando Tatis Jr.'s suspension for performance-enhancing drug use rocked Major League Baseball on Friday. The 23-year-old San Diego Padres superstar tested positive for Clostebol, an anabolic steroid. Since that revelation Tatis and his family have continually maintained he took the substance accidentally. On Monday, his father, Fernando Tatis Sr. continued talking about it when he really should just shut up.

The elder Tatis was quoted saying the following (it is translated from the original Spanish):

It is true that Trofobol does contain Clostebol and can be used on skin irritations. Is this story credible? It's hard to believe anything at this point.

Tatis Sr. continued:

"Millions" is a bit of a stretch there, but I digress.

So basically, Tatis Sr. is saying his son took something for a medical condition. He doesn't believe it is actually performance-enhancing and that it was a simple mistake and he shouldn't be completely discredited as a result.

While this sounds like a dad standing up for his son, he's not actually helping here. Tatis Jr. needs to address this directly. If it was truly a mistake or oversight, he should have nothing to hide. Come clean, address it, apologize and say you're going to be more careful and focused moving forward. And don't just do it in a written statement. Give an interview.

If he did that, people would forgive eventually.

There are some who will always question him moving forward, but he's never going to change their minds anyway. The apology and promise to do better should be aimed squarely at his teammates and Padres fans. And it should come soon.

By letting his dad talk for him, Tatis Jr. is only losing credibility.

And, unfortunately, his dad just kept talking: