The San Diego Padres were one of the most active teams in free agency this offseason. They were ever so close to winning the pennant but ultimately lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. As the Padres look to return to the World Series for the first time since 1998, they may have to do so by easing back in one of their young phenoms, Fernando Tatis Jr.
The Padres played their first spring training game on Friday and did so without Fernando Tatis, Jr. in the lineup. After missing the entire 2022 season, the Padres are hoping to ease back Tatis, who underwent three surgeries this past calendar year, into game action, reports MLB insider Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.
Tatis went through a litany of issues last year. He underwent wrist surgery after a motorcycle accident and was then handed an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. After the MLB came down on Tatis, he had surgery to repair the labrum in his left shoulder and had a second procedure done on his already surgically repaired left wrist.
The 24-year-old All-Star still has 20 games remaining on his suspension. So while he can participate in spring training with the Padres, he likely won’t be able to rejoin the big league team until late April, at the earliest. For now, the Padres are being cautious about Tatis’ usage before he ramps up to full speed. When he does play, the plan is for him to play in the outfield, according to Gonzalez.
The Padres signed Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million free-agent agent contract over the winter. While it appeared that Tatis once had a firm hold on that position, Bogaerts will be San Diego’s primary starter at shortstop this season.
It’s probably beneficial to just keep him in the outfield to start,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said Wednesday. “We’ll see once we get deeper into spring. I think as far as health goes, a little less on his plate in the outfield than having to play shortstop. He’s been through a couple surgeries, he hasn’t played in a game basically in 15 months. Part of that ‘easing him in’ is outfield exclusively to start.”
How Tatis looks in the outfield when he’s ready to officially return remains to be seen, but the Padres want one of the game’s best young stars to ease back into it after missing all of last season.
[ESPN]
