Due to Major League Baseball's lockout, teams and players weren't allowed any sort of communication. That means that the San Diego Padres were unaware of Fernando Tatis Jr's whereabouts for months.
Now, it's been known that the Dominican superstar suffered a wrist injury at some point in the offseason, although the organization was unaware of that. Unfortunately, that injury required surgery and he's expected to miss the beginning of the 2022 MLB season.
This will be the third time through his first three 162-game seasons that 'El Niño' has been forced to miss time with an injury, and the Padres have been quite cautious with him when it comes to sending him back to the field.
Fernando Tatis Jr's Injury: How Long Will He Be Out?
"San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. may need surgery on a fractured left wrist and could face a recovery time of up to three months, general manager A.J. Preller said on Monday. A decision on surgery has not been made, Tatis said," reported Dennis Lin of The Athletic.
Tatis Could Miss Aditional Time Depending On His Recovery
(Transcript via The Athletic)
"Tatis' recovery time following wrist surgery would depend on 3 main factors — the type, location and severity of the fracture. While we don’t know the exact details yet, recovery from the surgery would likely take around 10 to 14 weeks, according to our algorithm. This surgery comes with a big challenge as a baseball player — not only does the fracture need to fully heal, but the surrounding muscles need time to get back to full strength and range of motion takes time to improve.
I’m expecting Tatis to miss two to three months, but it will take another four to eight weeks after that until his power is really back. The Inside Injuries algorithm is projecting a Below Average performance through the first half of the season."
The San Diego Padres are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2021 season in which they were expected to come out of the NL West. For that, they'll need their franchise player at his best.
