Some bad news about one of the most exciting young players in the game: Fernando Tatís Jr. is probably done for the season. That’s the news from San Diego Padres manager Andy Green.
Tatís was sent to the injured list earlier today due to a a back issue. It’s apparently more serious than we thought. We’ll no doubt get more information about his injury in the near future.
Tatís is batting .317/.379/.590 with 22 homers and 16 stolen bases through 84 games while playing spectacular defense as well. He was a serious contender for the Rookie of the Year Award despite an earlier stint on the IL this season. Now the hardware will almost certainly go to Pete Alonso of the Mets.
That may be a short term disappointment, but the long term is all that truly matters for Tatís and the Padres. The team is going nowhere this year but he, along with a group of promising young players and recent free agent signings such as Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer, has the team in good position to contend in the next year or two and for an extended period after that. It makes no sense to risk that future for a month and a half of what would be, essentially, meaningless games.