San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. will begin a minor league rehab assignment with the team's Triple-A affiliate on Tuesday, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. Tatis is nearing the end of his 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension and is eligible to rejoin the Padres on Thursday, April 20. That is the first of four road games against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Suspended players are allowed to play in spring training games -- which Tatis did -- and minor league games to prepare for their return. Position players can spend a maximum of 20 days on a minor league rehab assignment (pitchers get up to 30 days), though Tatis will spend no more than 15 days with San Diego's Triple-A team, the El Paso Chihuahuas.
In addition to the suspension, Tatis is also working his way back from two left wrist surgeries and a left shoulder surgery, all within the last 13 months. He resumed baseball activities in January and appeared in 16 spring training games, authoring a .273/.340/.432 line with two home runs. Tatis played 14 games in right field, his new position, and two games at DH.
Since the end of spring training Tatis has worked out at the Padres' complex in Arizona, where he's taken at-bats in simulated games set up for Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. Musgrove is working his way back from a broken toe, while Darvish is being brought along slowly after the World Baseball Classic disrupted his normal build-up period in spring training.
Tatis, who turned only 24 in January, has not played in an MLB game since the final game of the 2021 regular season. He slashed .282/.364/.611 with 25 stolen bases and a National League-leading 42 home runs in only 130 games around shoulder trouble that year. For his career, Tatis is a .292/.369/.596 hitter with 81 home runs and 13.6 WAR in only 273 games.
The Padres have signed infielders Xander Bogaerts, Jake Cronenworth, and Manny Machado to long-term contracts within the last five months, prompting Tatis' move to right field. Truth be told, it is likely his best position given his occasionally erratic throwing at shortstop. Tatis can use his speed to cover ground in the outfield and the bat profiles more than enough for the position.
El Paso opens a six-game road series with the Sacramento River Cats (San Francisco Giants) on Tuesday. They'll play a six-game home series against the Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado Rockies) next week. Tatis is expected to rejoin the Padres following that series rather than join El Paso for their road series against the Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle Mariners) beginning April 18.
San Diego went 89-73 and advanced to the NLCS without Tatis last season. The club is 3-2 in the early going this year thanks to Monday's walk-off win over the D-Backs.
