Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. is getting nearer to a return, as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reviews (Twitter link) that he’s en path to Double-A San Antonio. He’ll quickly start a rehab task there, the ultimate step earlier than he makes it again to Petco Park.
It has been a very long time coming for Tatis, who fractured a bone in his left wrist over the offseason. He underwent surgical procedure in mid-March, with the membership expressing hope on the time he’d be again by the center of June. That clearly proved to not be the case. Whereas there have been no reviews of significant setbacks, Tatis didn’t get better on the tempo he or the workforce had hoped. He’s been progressively constructing by varied baseball actions in latest weeks, and he’s now positioned to get into video games for the primary time this yr.
Place gamers are allowed as much as 20 days on rehab assignments. As soon as Tatis formally begins his task within the subsequent few days, he can spend just below three weeks within the minors earlier than the workforce has to deliver him to the majors or shut him again down. They wouldn’t be sending him out in the event that they anticipated the latter end result, so the membership is clearly of the assumption he’ll be prepared by the center or finish of this month.
Tatis’ forthcoming return will add one other star to a lineup already loaded with firepower. Manny Machado is in within the MVP dialog, and the Friars introduced in Juan Soto and Josh Bell in some of the monumental trades in MLB historical past. Add Tatis — proprietor of a .292/.369/.596 line by his first three seasons — to the combo, and the Padres will deploy an eye-popping prime of the lineup for the stretch run.
With Tatis out of motion, the majority of the shortstop work has gone to Ha-Seong Kim. The previous KBO star has overcome a tough rookie MLB season to hit at a roughly league common degree (.248/.329/.370) whereas enjoying Gold Glove caliber protection by 98 video games. With Bell, Jake Cronenworth, Machado and one other deadline acquisition Brandon Drury throughout the infield, San Diego can have a humiliation of riches on the filth. Tatis has expressed a willingness to maneuver from shortstop to the outfield if crucial, with middle subject seemingly the likeliest spot in that case. Soto has proper subject accounted for, and Jurickson Profar is having the perfect yr of his profession in left. Trent Grisham, who has stumbled to a .197/.293/.365 line in simply shy of 400 journeys to the plate, appears as if he’ll be the odd man out most days as soon as everyone seems to be wholesome.
