Soto to opposing pitchers facing the Padres: ‘Good luck!’ (0:16)
Juan Soto praises the new Padres line-up and wishes the opposing pitchers the best of luck. (0:16)
LOS ANGELES — Fernando Tatis Jr. attended his third live batting practice session at Dodger Stadium early Friday afternoon before flying to San Antonio to join the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.
He is scheduled to begin his rehab assignment with the San Antonio Missions on Saturday night and will face Leadoff as the designated batsman.
Tatis, 23, has spent all season rehab from surgery on his left wrist but has basically reached the end of his recovery and is now focused on getting his timing back and getting his legs under himself. Tatis underwent what was expected to be a final scan of the scaphoid, which sustained a fracture earlier in the off-season, and Padres manager Bob Melvin said: “Everything’s looking good.”
Tatis, who has shown encouraging signs in previous batting sessions, could be a week or two away from his return.
“I don’t think we have a set number of thugs,” Melvin said when asked about the length of Tatis’ rehab stint. “And you also want to bring a guy back here if he swings the bat pretty well too. We’re later in the season; that’s not going to be a three week process to bring him back here so we’re just going to take it day by day and see where he is physically and how he feels at the plate.
Tatis will eventually return to a revamped Padres team that dominated the headlines earlier this week, acquiring Juan Soto, Josh Bell, Brandon Drury and Josh Hader before the trade deadline. Tatis will head the lineup alongside Soto and Manny Machado, forming arguably the most devastating hitting trio in the majors – but he’ll also be making moves.
Tatis will see time in midfield and a designated hitter during his rehab stint in addition to his natural position as shortstop, and will do the same when he returns to the major league squad. Melvin wants the flexibility to continue giving Ha-seong Kim shortstop starts, but doesn’t want to put too much strain on Tatis given the physical demands of the position.
“This is one where he’s been out long enough where we really don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and make sure we’re going about it the right way and that he’s healthy, make sure we don’t give him too much. said Melvin.