Phillies’ Former Pitcher At Center Of $340 Million Padres Superstar’s Lawsuit

The Philadelphia Phillies are taking on the San Diego Padres as they look to get their turnaround under Don Mattingly back on the right path.

The team initially surged under the new manager, but it has now lost two series in a row going into the three-game Padres set.

And as the Phillies look for a series win in San Diego, they can hope that Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to struggle at the plate this season, particularly after he received a harsh update in a high-profile lawsuit.

“San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr.’s lawsuit against a talent prospector who fronted the then-18-year-old prospect $2 million in exchange for paying the firm 10 percent of his future earnings has been dismissed,” Dorian Hargrove reported for the Times of San Diego. “The star baseball player must now pay millions more to the firm, as well as attorney’s fees.”

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Tatis was attempting to fight a 2017 agreement he made with Big League Advance, alleging that the firm preyed on him as a teenager in the Dominican Republic by encouraging him to sign the agreement. The Padres outfielder, who has earned three All-Star nods, two Silver Slugger Awards and two Gold Glove Awards in his career, signed a 14-year, $340 million contract with the team in 2022.

As a result of the dismissal, Tatis was ordered to pay Big League Advance $3.74 million, per NBC San Diego.

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And as the Phillies take on Tatis and the Padres, some of their fans might be surprised to learn that a former pitcher for the team is now the owner of Big League Advance.

Michael Schwimer, who pitched more than 48 innings across the 2011 and 2012 seasons for the Phillies, founded the lending company in October 2016. In addition to the accusations from Tatis, the company has been sued by former Cleveland Indians minor league catcher Francisco Mejia, who accused the firm of predatory lending practices.

“There’s a lot of people that have a really bad view of Big League Advance based off the false complaint that Francisco Mejia filed, and it’ll be really hard to change their minds, but I didn’t build the company for those people,” Schwimer told Sports Illustrated in 2018. “Minor leaguers have rallied around what we’re trying to do.”

After suffering his setback in court, Tatis will be looking for a turnaround to his season during the series against the Phillies. He is slashing just .247/.326/.289 on the year, which would mark career lows across the board.