Major League Baseball has been clamoring for a revolutionary superstar to capture the public’s attention since Derek Jeter hung up his heels in 2014. Throne suitors have come and gone, but the answer could be a 21-year-old Dominican who prefers icy dreadlocks, striking socks, mirrored sunglasses and unbuttoned T-shirts and can’t stop dancing or smiling at the diamond.
Fernando Tatis Jr. has played less than a full season of MLB games, but may already be the most electrifying player in the sport. She is now occupying Jeter’s shoes off the field as the newest athlete on the sponsorship list at Gatorade, where she will launch the brand’s Bolt24 product line under a multi-year contract.
“We’re proud to work with championship-sized athletes and aspirations for kids,” says Jeff Kearney, Gatorade’s global director of sports marketing. “Bolt24 is breaking some new rules for us, and Fernando is a guy who is writing his own rules of the game.”
Tatis, whose father played 11 years in MLB, joins NBA star Damian Lillard and promising golfer Matthew Wolff as Bolt24 athletes. Other Tatis Jr. brands are Adidas, Hyperice, Mizuno gloves and Victus bats. PepsiCo-owned Gatorade works with several regional baseball players, but Tatis joins Jeter and Bryce Harper as the only players with national agreements.