Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. Could Need Months to Recover: Report

Sam Garcia | Jun 26, 2024

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. will be sidelined until at least after the All-Star break. The two-time Silver Slugger was placed on the injured list on Monday following the diagnosis of a stress reaction in his right leg. 

“It’s going to be some time,” Tatis said to reporters. “We’re trying to aim after the All-Star Game (in mid-July). But we’re talking about something serious in my bone in my right leg.”

Tatis has been dealing with this injury for the majority of the season. He said he got cramps all over his body after San Diego’s season-opening series in Korea. The pain continued through the Padres’ first series against the San Francisco Giants and worsened as the season progressed. 

“There’s some serious stuff in my leg that can get worse,” Tatis said. “We definitely don’t want that. I was playing through it. I probably could have kept going, but the doctors recommended for the best to heal it now. That way it doesn’t get worse, and it’s just better that way."

After further imaging, the official diagnosis for Tatis Jr. is a stress reaction in his right femur. 

The San Diegio Union-Tribune spoke to Dr. Timothy Gibson, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley. He did not provide reassurance that Tatis would return to the field anytime soon. 

Gibson said the duration of recovery for stress reactions tends to relate to the amount of time the individual has dealt with the injury. For Tatis, that has been from March to now. 

“It would be easy for it to look like a muscle strain,” Gibson said. “This is the kind of injury a runner gets. It’s not that common. The fact it was delayed is not all that surprising.”

But, Gibson did say that based on his experience treating stress reactions in elite athletes, he expects Tatis to fully recover and have no ongoing issues, despite not having examined him personally. 

However, he has the recovery time somewhere in the range of six to 14 weeks. That timeline would keep Tatis out until August at the earliest, but potentially even for the rest of the season.