A portrait of power, Fernando Tatís, Jr. should give the San Diego lineup a major lift when he … [+]
The pennant-hungry San Diego Padres are about to get an enormous shot in the arm.
On April 20, star slugger Fernando Tatís, Jr. returns to action after missing all of last season – first with a broken wrist and then with an 80-game suspension for alleged use of performance-enhancing substances (PEDs).
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Signed as a shortstop, he will shift to right field when he returns because the team has four shortstops ahead of him on the depth chart: Xander Bogaerts, signed to an 11-year, $280 million pact during the winter; Kim Ha-seong, who played the position for the Padres last season; and Manny Machado, a long-time shortstop who anchors the infield from third base.
Machado, like Bogaerts and Tatís, is signed to a long-term contract (11 years, $350 million).
A 6-3, 217-pound Dominican, Tatís signed a 14-year, $340 million extension before the 2021 campaign, then had a league-best 42 home runs and 25 stolen bases that year, when he finished with a solid .282 batting average and .611 slugging percentage.
His defense wasn’t great but his bat more than compensated, resulting in the highest fWAR (FanGraphs wins against replacement) of any position player: 7.2.
To prove his bite is bigger than his bark, the right-handed slugger has begun a rehab assignment with a minor-league team called the El Paso Chihuahuas. He reported to the Triple-A club Friday.
If Fernando Tatís, Jr. regains his old batting stroke, more celebrations could be in the offing. … [+]
While sitting out last season, Tatís submitted to surgery twice: once to fix his fractured wrist but also to repair a shoulder that troubled him previously.
That shoulder trouble held him to 130 games in 2021 and prompted the Padres to put him in the outfield, where the throws are not as strenuous as those a shortstop must make.
Cleared to resume baseball activities in January, a healthy Tatís should provide even more punch to a Padres lineup that already includes Machado, runner-up for National League MVP last year; Juan Soto, a former National League batting champ acquired from Washington at the 2022 trading deadline; and Bogaerts, a four-time All-Star with two World Series rings.
San Diego finished second to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West last year, winding up 22 games off the pace, but is now considered a strong contender for its first pennant of the 21st century.
The Padres reached and lost the World Series twice (1984 and 1998) and came close last year, losing to Philadelphia in the NL Championship Series after reaching the playoffs as a wild-card winner.
Team president A.J. Preller spent heavily during the winter, pushing the Padres’ payroll to third in the majors, trailing only the two New York teams.
According to Spotrac, the current San Diego payroll stands at $236,962,024. Bogaerts, Soto, Tatís, and pitchers Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish will all earn at least $20 million this season.
Tatís ranks third on the club at $24,285,714, according to Spotrac, behind Machado ($31,818,182 ) and Bogaerts ($25,454,545).
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschlossberg/2023/04/04/san-diego-salivates-over-imminent-return-of-slugger-fernando-tats-jr/