PORT ST. LUCIE – The Mets are one step closer to letting Fernando Tatis clear his name.
The veteran appears poised to grab one of the Mets’ final roster spots after backup infielder Ruben Gotay was placed on waivers yesterday, and Tatis, at age 33, is hoping to use that chance to get his reputation back.
“I know in my heart what I’m capable of, and I still think I can get back to that,” he said yesterday.
Tatis, one of the most touted young prospects in the majors a decade ago, is talking about redemption because he still hears the whispers about his out-of-nowhere power eruption with the Cardinals in 1999.
Tatis had 34 home runs, 107 RBIs and a .404 on-base percentage that season, including an April display against the Dodgers’ Chan Ho Park in which he became the only player in big-league history to hit two grand slams in one inning.
Those were numbers Tatis hadn’t come close to before or since, and they came at the height of baseball’s steroids era. But Tatis says there is no correlation, blaming a torrent of injuries for his subsequent slide.
And what a slide it was. Tatis was traded to the Expos just one season later, then spent the next two years out of baseball after hitting just .194 in 53 games with Montreal in 2004.
After spending most of his career as a third baseman, Tatis reinvented himself as a backup infielder and outfielder with the Orioles in 2006. But he couldn’t stick there, either, finally landing with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans last season after a failed tryout with the Dodgers.
The plummet was humbling, Tatis said, but understandable.
“The hardest thing in baseball for a player is to get hurt,” said the Dominican Republic native. “When you get hurt, that’s it. You’re just not going to be the same player. That’s what happened to me.”
Tatis says it was simply bad luck that he went on the disabled list four times between between 2001 and 2003 (including twice on the 60-day DL) for ailments ranging from a strained rotator cuff to patellar tendinitis to chest inflammation.
“It felt like it was one thing after another,” he said. “It was a very frustrating time.”
Tatis’ frustration continued this spring, when he signed another minor-league deal with the Mets but couldn’t make it to camp until the middle of March because of problems obtaining a visa in the Dominican Republic.
Tatis felt he arrived too late to win a roster spot and is hitting just .241 in 11 Grapefruit League games after going 1-for-5 in yesterday’s 9-4 win over the Braves in Orlando. But he appears to have impressed the Mets with his ability to play all four infield spots as well as the outfield.
“Tatis gives you more versatility,” Willie Randolph said Wednesday. “He played winter ball, so he’s in great shape. I’m not going to hold that [arrival] against him. If we feel like he can help us, then we’ll see.”
The Mets aren’t expected to make their Opening Day roster final until Sunday, but it’s looking more and more like Tatis’ name could be on it.
“I’ve been healthy for two years – no pain, no nothing,” he said. “If they give me this chance, I’m going to make the most of it.”
bhubbuch@nypost.com