Padres Get Good News on Fernando Tatis Jr.'s Injury

The All-Star will have a chance to return sooner rather than later

Denis Poroy-USA TODAY Sports

San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. underwent an MRI this week that showed good progress in his healing from a stress reaction in his femur. Tatis is now able to continue increasing his baseball activity, which had already included playing catch and swinging a bat, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Fernando Tatis Jr. had an MRI this week that showed the progress in healing the Padres had hoped for.
He can continue to incrementally increase his baseball activity. He has already begun playing catch and swinging a bat.

— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) July 18, 2024

While this is good news for Tatis and the Padres, he is not expected to return to the team until August despite initially targeting a return closer to the All-Star break. The Padres open the unofficial second half of the season Friday in Cleveland to kick off a weekend series against the Guardians.

Tatis has been out since June 21, when he was removed from a game in which he got hit by a pitch on his lone at-bat of the night. He was placed on the injured list on June 24 with a right femoral stress reaction, an injury that also caused him to miss the MLB All-Star Game despite being selected to play.

Tatis was voted a National League starter in the outfield for the second time in his career. He was also named a starter in 2021.

Prior to the stress reaction, Tatis had been playing through a quadriceps injury for much of the year. He was advised to stop playing through the pain and avoid worsening his injury.

Tatis has previously missed time in all but one major league season of his career so far. He has dealt with injuries to his back, multiple shoulder subluxations, and a fractured scaphoid bone. He additionally has missed 100 career games due to a suspension stemming from a failed drug test in Aug. 2022.

When healthy this year, Tatis was slashing .279/.354/.468 with 14 home runs and 36 RBIs, with a 17-game hit streak highlighting his season thus far.