SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. wore a muscle shirt, shorts and a compression sleeve around his right thigh as, for the first in almost nine weeks, he ran with something approaching full intensity. He sprinted from Petco Park’s right-field foul line to center field, walked back to his starting point, then repeated the sequence several more times — each time, he later estimated, with around 70 percent effort. The stress reaction in Tatis’ right femur isn’t fully healed, but it has healed enough over a long enough period that the San Diego Padres felt comfortable allowing their standout right fielder to ramp up his baseball activity.
“We have a looser timetable now, but we won’t really share it because there’s still some water under the bridge a little bit,” manager Mike Shildt said Thursday afternoon. “But he’s definitely progressing to getting back to playing. It’s good news.”
It was, even for a team that had gone 32-16 in Tatis’ absence. Club officials continue to indicate that a return before mid-September remains possible and maybe even probable. The Padres have built a uniquely explosive offense and a roster with as much depth as any during A.J. Preller’s tenure as general manager. Still, the reintroduction of a slugger with a platinum glove could be huge.
This was all evident before the arrival of more news Thursday night.
First, the Padres optioned Matt Waldron to Triple A. Then, they lost a second straight game for the first time in almost five weeks as the New York Mets piled on late in an 8-3 rout. San Diego pitchers, for just the second time in Petco Park history, surrendered at least 17 hits for a second consecutive game.
Whereas the Mets amassed seven hits in the ninth inning alone, the bulk of the damage a day earlier had come against the Padres’ starter. Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins, Waldron joined Jered Weaver as the only two pitchers in Petco Park history to allow 10 or more runs. The rookie lacked a feel for his primary weapon, the knuckleball, even as his other pitches found too much plate. Once the unexpected stalwart of the rotation, he saw his second-half ERA balloon to 8.00, an untenable pace for a club with October aspirations. Waldron later acknowledged that his arm slot had dropped in recent weeks while hinting at some balkiness in his throwing elbow.
We have made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/rW1c6DYjyM
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 23, 2024
Speaking after Thursday’s loss, Shildt framed the demotion as an opportunity for the 27-year-old to regather himself.
“Matt Waldron has been a huge part of our ability to be where we are,” Shildt said. “He’s been on pretty much regular rest (all season). Even after the All-Star break, he only got an extra day. … He’s been carrying the mail for us and done a really good job. Big part of what we’re doing, how we’re doing it. We just looked up and realized we need to take a reset for him to be able to go and work on a few things, regroup a little bit and be ready to come back.”
The Padres, who recalled reliever Logan Gillaspie in a corresponding move, now have a rotation slot to fill for Monday’s series opener in St. Louis. They could choose to recall Randy Vásquez from Triple-A El Paso or select the contract of Omar Cruz, a 25-year-old whom they took in the minor-league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft — and who has out-pitched Vásquez in the Pacific Coast League, although Cruz’s lack of any big-league experience might be a significant factor. Another option could be to deploy hard-throwing rookie Sean Reynolds as an opener or a scheduled multi-inning reliever. (Reynolds opened a few games for El Paso this season and retired eight batters on 47 pitches Wednesday in relief of Waldron.)
San Diego, after 11 games over the next 11 days, may be able to get by without a fifth starter for much of September. There will be five off days next month, and the team has not ruled out the possibility that veteran starter Yu Darvish eventually returns from the restricted list. In the meantime, the Padres’ month-long hot streak has bought them some margin for error in the standings.
And, as the past month has shown, things can change quickly in weeks or even days. Across the league, the races for wild-card berths and division titles remain wide open. Even after Thursday’s loss, 4 1/2 games separated the Padres (72-57) from the majors-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. The same distance separated the Mets (67-61) from San Diego — with three games left in this series.
So, depth is paramount. Despite Tatis’ potentially not-so-distant return, the Padres’ resourcefulness already was facing a critical test before the decision to option Waldron. Starting shortstop Ha-Seong Kim went on the injured list this week with right shoulder inflammation. Rather than shift second baseman Xander Bogaerts back to his former position — Bogaerts and Shildt agreed such a move could be counterproductive — the Padres called up defensive specialist Mason McCoy and gave the 29-year-old his first big-league start Thursday.
In a welcome performance, McCoy went 1-for-2 with two walks. He nearly saved a run on a fine play in the top of the fourth, when the Mets capitalized on a passed ball by Luis Campusano. The catcher’s lapse led to two runs, one unearned, against No. 1 starter Dylan Cease as New York took a 3-0 lead. The Padres threatened the next half-inning, loading the bases with no outs, only to see Jake Cronenworth ground into a double play with the hardest-hit ball (110.9 mph) of his career.
One run scored as McCoy hustled home from third. The Padres proceeded to strand the other base runners. They finally broke through on offense in the ninth, but only after Gillaspie had coughed up five runs in the top of the inning. Soon, weeks of relatively unbroken dominance came to an unofficial end.
“We’ve lost a couple in a row. It’s going to happen,” Shildt said. “But yeah, I ride with this club. This club’s ready to get after tomorrow already.”
Either Friday or Saturday, Tatis will progress to participating in regular batting practice. His teammates will play on without him. They might even resume winning at a torrid pace, as they largely have since he went down. But the psychological effect of seeing Tatis take swings on the field does not have to be negligible.
“What he provides is like nothing else,” Cronenworth said. “And I think it’s gonna be a huge boost for us when he does come back.”
(Photo of Jurickson Profar: Denis Poroy / Getty Images)
