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Fernando Tatis Jr.

Padres Activate Fernando Tatis Jr., Place Yu Darvish On IL

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The Padres have reinstated Fernando Tatis Jr. from the IL, per a club announcement. He is in today’s lineup, starting in right field, his first career game at a position other than shortstop. Yu Darvish is swapping places with Tatis and going on the IL, with lower back tightness. Additionally, outfielder Brian O’Grady has been optioned, with righty Reiss Knehr being recalled.

Despite ongoing shoulder issues, Tatis has been one of the best players in baseball this year. He has an excellent slash line of .290/.373/.647 on the year, producing a wRC+ of 165. Among players with at least 350 plate appearances, the only ones with a higher wRC+ are Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Shohei Ohtani. The Padres are moving him to the outfield in the hopes that he’ll see less defensive action and will therefore be less likely to re-aggravate the shoulder problems that have already seen him go on the IL three times this season. Having his bat back in the lineup will surely be a boost to a Padres team that has been sliding lately, but still maintains a 2 1/2 game lead over the Reds for the final National League wildcard spot, going into today’s action. Jake Cronenworth, who has been manning shortstop in the absence of Tatis, figures to remain there. Wil Myers, who has been the regular right fielder of late, might be the most at risk of losing playing time.

As for Darvish, he left his start a few days ago with lower back tightness and he will now miss at least one start while recuperating. It’s a serious blow to the Padres rotation, as Darvish is having yet another excellent season. Through 131 1/3 innings, he has an ERA of 3.70, with a strikeout rate of 29.9% and walk rate of 5.7%, both of which are much better than league average. Craig Stammen is starting today, in what figures to be a bullpen game.

The San Diego rotation is now down to Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove and Ryan Weathers for the time being. Reinforcements will surely be required, either internally or externally. Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the club is considering free agents such as Jake Arrieta, who was released by the Cubs three days ago.

Fernando Tatis Jr. Preparing To Play Outfield

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Fernando Tatis Jr. was placed on the injured list 10 days ago, and it seemed as though the Padres star was perhaps closer to a season-ending surgery on his bothersome shoulder than a return to the field.  Now, however, it looks as if Tatis has once again recovered enough from his latest shoulder issue that he’ll be able to get back into San Diego’s lineup, and a new position appears to be in the works.

Rather than take any grounders at his normal shortstop position, Tatis has instead been working out as an outfielder, with Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writing that the Padres are planning to shift Tatis between center field and right field when he returns from the 10-day IL.  Tatis took batting practice on the field yesterday, so if he continues to progress well, it seems like he might not be far away from yet another fairly quick recovery from what seemed to be a serious injury.

While surgery seems inevitable, Tatis and the Padres hope that the procedure can wait until after the season, and the move to the outfield will theoretically help reduce wear-and-tear on Tatis’ shoulder in the interim.  There doesn’t appear to be any concern over how Tatis will be able to handle the position change from a defensive standpoint, as Padres outfield coach Wayne Kirby had rave reviews of Tatis’ workouts.

“His instincts are impeccable.  He shouldn’t have any problem,” Kirby said about Tatis as an outfielder.  “His speed will make up for whatever he doesn’t read.  If he makes a false move, I’m sure he can make an adjustment.”

Tatis would play every day in center or right field, leaving Trent Grisham still getting the bulk of everyday assignments at the other position, while Tommy Pham and Wil Myers might end up splitting time in left field.  (Myers has almost exclusively played outfield for the last four seasons, but given his past work at first base, he could possibly also find some at-bats in a platoon with Eric Hosmer.)  With Tatis playing on the grass, Jake Cronenworth would remain as the regular shortstop and Adam Frazier would remain at second base, with Ha-Seong Kim as the backup infielder.  It wouldn’t be what the Padres anticipated as their regular lineup down the stretch, yet the new alignment might be necessary to keep Tatis healthy.

It could also open up some interesting possibilities for the team heading into 2022, since Pham is a free agent this winter and San Diego could opt to just keep Tatis in the outfield if he takes to the new role as smoothly as Kirby imagines.  Cronenworth could remain as the everyday shortstop in that scenario, and top prospect CJ Abrams is expected to make his MLB debut at some point in 2022.  Or, since there are plenty of star shortstops available in this winter’s free agent class, the aggressive Padres front office could explore another high-profile acquisition.  The Padres may also have another lineup spot to work with if the National League adopts the designated hitter.

Padres Place Fernando Tatis Jr, Chris Paddack On 10-Day IL

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11:24PM: Season-ending shoulder surgery “would be on the table” for Tatis if he doesn’t show improvement during his 10-day IL stint, Tinger told The Athletic’s Dennis Lin and other reporters.  However, Tatis is intent on playing again this year.

6:01PM: The Padres have placed shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and right-hander Chris Paddack on the 10-day injured list.  Tatis is on the IL with left shoulder inflammation, after leaving last night’s game with a shoulder problem following a slide into third base.  Paddack has been sidelined with a left oblique strain, and his placement is retroactive to July 28.

In corresponding moves, the Padres also optioned righty Nabil Crismatt to Triple-A while calling up right-handers Miguel Diaz and Reiss Knehr, and newly-acquired outfielder Jake Marisnick was added to the active roster.

This is the second time Tatis’ bothersome left shoulder has sent him to the injured list this season, as he suffered a slight labrum tear back in early April but ended up missing only a minimal amount of time.  Tatis has since missed a couple of games with mild shoulder soreness, but Padres manager Jayce Tingler told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter links) and other reporters that Tatis’ shoulder was “more sore” in the aftermath of this injury than in his past shoulder aggravations.

According to Acee, there isn’t yet any indication that the Padres are considering shutting Tatis down in the wake of these recurring injuries.  If surgery is the only way to fully correct the problem, that would obviously sideline Tatis for the rest of this season and potentially into 2022, depending on the extent of the procedure and the severity of the shoulder damage.  The fact that Tatis has been able to bounce back multiple times this year and still produce at a superstar level provides some hope that he’ll also be able to recover from this latest setback, though it would seem to appear that Tatis will require more than just the minimum 10 days of recovery time.

There is no way to actually replace Tatis, of course, though San Diego’s acquisition of Adam Frazier last week now looks all the more important.  Jake Cronenworth can slide over to shortstop while Frazier takes over as planned at second base, but that scenario also interrupts the Padres’ initial plan — using Cronenworth at first base and Frazier as a super-utilityman around the diamond, providing cover for and depth behind Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers.  Ha-Seong Kim and Jurickson Profar are also on hand as utility options.

Losing Paddack is also no small matter for the Padres, who have been consistently hampered by rotation injuries all season.  San Diego was rumored to be looking at multiple starters prior to the trade deadline, but reliever Daniel Hudson ended up being their only new arm.  Paddack was scheduled to start on Sunday, but the Padres might now turn to Knehr or another option for tomorrow’s game.

Paddack has pitched better (3.92 SIERA) than his 5.13 ERA would indicate, though he has allowed a lot of hard contact.  Perhaps the key stat is 93 innings pitched, as Paddack has been a reliably durable member of the starting staff apart from a 10-day COVID absence early in the season.  The right-hander has a below-average strikeout rate but he has been one of the best at limiting free passes; Paddack’s walk rate is only five percent.

Fernando Tatis Leaves Game With Apparent Shoulder Injury

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Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. left tonight’s game after sliding into third base and seemingly re-injuring his left shoulder, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

There isn’t any word yet on the severity of the injury. But this is an issue that has been bothering Tatis on-and-off for the entire season. It first flared up in March, before the season even began. Tatis then appeared to re-aggravate the issue, landing on the IL April 6th. Thankfully, he was reactivated after a minimum 10-day stay, being reactivated April 16th. But then on June 19th, Tatis was again removed from a game with what seemed like another shoulder injury. Though Padres manager Jayce Tingler later said that the move was precautionary and Tatis did not end up going back on the IL.

Losing Tatis for any amount of time would be a serious blow to the Padres. They are currently holding down the last playoff spot in the National League, but have the Reds nipping at their heels, just 4 1/2 games back. The calendar will flip over to August on Sunday as teams will be pushing to make their final pushes for the postseason. Tatis has been superb this year, despite dealing with this ongoing injury. He’s produced a 165 wRC+ on the season so far on his way to accruing 4.7 fWAR, easily the best on the team. Tatis and Padres fans will surely be hoping this is just another precautionary measure.

MLB Announces All-Star Starters

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Major League Baseball announced the starting lineups for the 2021 All-Star Game this evening. The starting lineups are determined by fan vote. This year’s All-Star Game will take place in Coors Field on Tuesday, July 13. The starting pitchers and reserves will be announced at a later date.

National League

American League

*On the 60-day injured list

Fernando Tatis Jr. Leaves Game With Possible Shoulder Injury

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10:09PM: Tatis was removed for precautionary reasons, Padres manager Jayce Tingler told The Athletic’s Dennis Lin and other reporters after the game.  “We feel like we’re in a fairly decent position.  The trainers think (his shoulder is) nowhere near where it’s been earlier on in the year,” Tingler said.

8:32PM: Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. left tonight’s game in the top of the fifth inning after appearing to hurt his shoulder.  According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link), Tatis seemed “to jar his left shoulder diving for a ball” off the bat of Reds outfielder Tyler Naquin.  Tatis left the field after a visit from the team trainer.

More will be known after the game, though any sort of shoulder problem is of particular concern given that Tatis is already playing with a slight labrum tear in that same left shoulder.  Tatis suffered the tear while taking a big swing during an at-bat early in April, though what seemed like a very serious injury at the time resulted in only a minimal 10-day stint on the injured list.

It could be that the Padres were simply being as cautious as possible in removing Tatis at the first sign of any shoulder discomfort, and this current issue might not require another IL visit at all for the star shortstop.  Needless to say, any sort of absence for Tatis would be a blow to San Diego given the fantastic numbers (.285/.364/.675 with 22 home runs) that he has posted over 231 plate appearances this season.  Tatis entered Saturday as the NL leader in homers, RBI (50), and OPS, while his .677 slugging percentage was leading all MLB hitters.

Quick Hits: Workman, Gallen, Tatis Jr.

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Brandon Workman has opted out of his contract with the Boston Red Sox. They now have less than 48 hours to decide whether or not to add him to the active roster, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. The 32-year-old returned to the Red Sox after being released by the Cubs at the end of April. He put up a 6.75 ERA in 10 appearances with Chicago, but followed that up with a 1.29 ERA over seven innings for the Triple-A Red Sox. He racked up strikeouts at both spots with a combined 30.0 percent strikeout rate. As has been the issue with Workman in the past, however, his control has been spotty (15.7 percent walk rate). If Boston decides not to add him to their active roster, Workman will again be a free agent. Elsewhere around the game…

  • Diamondbacks’ ace Zac Gallen threw at 90-feet today, and he’s scheduled to throw a bullpen tomorrow to truly begin the road back to the active roster, per the Athletic’s Zach Buchanan (via Twitter). After starting the season on the injured list, Gallen returned with five strong outings from April 13th to May 7th, but he landed back on the IL with a UCL sprain.
  • Fernando Tatis Jr. left today’s game against the Cubs in the sixth inning, though there was no apparent injury at the time. The Padres did not waste much time in acknowledging his removal (via Twitter); he exited as a precautionary measure due to oblique tightness. Given his level of stardom, his central role on a contender, and the myriad injuries he’s dealt with so far this season, any health issue for Tatis Jr. rates as a potential game-changer. He did not seem particularly perturbed at the time of his exit, however, and there’s no reason to do anything but take the Padres’ at their word and hope the injury is, at it seems, a minor one.

Padres Reinstate Fernando Tatis Jr., Eric Hosmer From COVID-19 Injured List

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The Padres reinstated Fernando Tatis Jr. and Eric Hosmer from the COVID-19 injured list prior to tonight’s game, per the team. In corresponding moves, John Andreoli was returned to Triple-A and Tucupita Marcano was optioned.

Tatis Jr. last appeared in a game on May 9th. Hosmer didn’t miss quite as much time, having last played on May 11th. Both are back in the lineup for tonight’s game. While they were out, Andreoli was appearing in the Majors for the first time since 2018. He had appeared in every game since the 11th before sitting out last night’s contest, mostly serving as a defensive replacement in the outfield. Though he only stepped to the plate seven times, the 30-year-old managed a double, a walk, and a couple of runs scored.

Marcano, just 21-years-old, is a promising infield prospect for the Padres, pushed into action this year due to the myriad injuries to Tatis. He has seen game action 18 times, slashing .207/.303/.241 in 33 plate appearances. The Padres hope that Tatis can settle in for good now after a start-and-stop first part of the season. Tatis has appeared in just 26 of the Padres first 43 games, though he’s been his usual alectric self when active. Tatis has posted a 135 wRC+ with nine home runs and a .313 ISO.

Fernando Tatis Jr., Wil Myers Test Positive For Covid-19

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May 12: Wil Myers, who actually started last night’s game, exited after three innings when the team learned of a positive Covid-19 test, manager Jayce Tingler revealed after the game (link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Eric Hosmer, meanwhile, departed for contact-tracing purposes and has been placed on the injured list as a result. The league’s health-and-safety protocols stipulate that a player who tests positive will be away from the team for at least 10 days.

The Padres selected outfielder Patrick Kivlehan to take Myers’ roster spot. Kivlehan, whom the Padres signed to a minor league deal over the winter, has hit .208/.302/.401 with 10 home runs in 242 PA in the bigs.

May 11, 4:34pm: Tatis tested positive for COVID-19 and is asymptomatic, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. Profar and Mateo are in contact tracing. To fill their open roster spots, the Padres selected the contract of outfielder John Andreoli and recalled a pair of players – infielder/outfielder Tucupita Marcano and righty Nabil Crismatt – per a club announcement.

3:34pm: The Padres announced that they have placed shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and utilitymen Jurickson Profar and Jorge Mateo on the injured list because of Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols. They’ll decide on corresponding moves before their game against the Rockies on Tuesday.

As is typically the case in COVID-related situations, there isn’t any word on how much time any of these players will miss. Regardless, it’s a blow to the Padres’ offensive depth. Tatis has gotten off to an effective start, albeit with much less on-base ability than he flashed in his first two seasons, having batted .240/.315/.552 with nine home runs and seven stolen bases in 108 plate appearances. Profar owns a far less imposing .234/.333/.308 line with a home run and five steals over 128 PA, though he has shown off defensive versatility by lining up at first base, second base and both corner outfield spots. And Mateo has hit a useful .250/.325/.417 through his first 40 trips to the plate this year.

This is the second time this year the Padres will have to go some time without Tatis, who was on the 10-day IL for part of April on account of a shoulder injury. They used Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim at short in Tatis’ absence then. Profar, meanwhile, has been the Padres’ primary starter in left field, but Tommy Pham hasn’t been far behind. He figures to get the lion’s share of action there with Profar out.

Padres Activate Fernando Tatis Jr.

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APRIL 16: The Padres have activated Tatis, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. They optioned infielder Tucupita Marcano to make room for Tatis, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

APRIL 15: Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. suffered a catastrophic-looking left shoulder injury on April 5, though it doesn’t appear he’s going to miss much time. Tatis had his day “as far as his at-bats” go on Thursday, according to manager Jayce Tingler, and Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets that the Padres are “expected” to activate him from the 10-day injured list Friday.

Tatis will be back in time to face the Dodgers, the reigning World Series champions and the NL West leaders who are the biggest obstacle standing in the Padres’ way. San Diego entered 2021 with championship hopes of its own after going 37-23 a year ago, thanks in no small part to Tatis. The 22-year-old wunderkind slashed .277/.366/.571 with 17 home runs and 11 stolen bases last season en route to a fourth-place finish in NL MVP voting.

Tatis could find himself in the thick of the MVP race for a long time, which led the Padres to sign him to a historic 14-year, $340MM extension in the offseason. They and their fans were undoubtedly filled with concern when Tatis went down in their fifth game this season, but he appears to have dodged a significant injury.

With Tatis out, the Padres have gone with Ha-Seong Kim and Jake Cronenworth at short. Both Kim and Cronenworth are versatile enough to play multiple positions, so they should get plenty of time on the field for San Diego when Tatis returns.

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