Padres phenom shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. will be placed on the 10-day injured list due to back spasms, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Tatis was forced to leave Tuesday’s game and sat out Wednesday’s game against the Rays.
Tatis, 20, and the Mets’ Pete Alonso are neck-and-neck in the NL Rookie of the Year Award race. Tatis has hit an astounding .317/.379/.590 with 22 home runs, 53 RBI, 61 runs scored, and 16 stolen bases in 372 plate appearances. Among NL shortstops, only Javier Báez (4.4) and Trevor Story (4.1) have accrued more WAR than Tatis (3.7), according to FanGraphs.
The hope is that Tatis will only need the minimum 10 days on the injured list. Luis Urías will handle shortstop for however long Tatis is absent.
