Peoria, Ariz. - A late start, spring training isn't off to a good start for the Padres.
Fernando Tatis Jr., the team's $340 million shortstop, who led the National League with 42 home runs last season, has a fractured left wrist and will probably require surgery, said A.J. President of Baseball Operations. Preller said Monday that the team is ready for its first workout here.
Tatis is expected to miss a significant portion of the season. Preller said Tatis could be back in about three months. David Chao, a former NFL team physician and orthopedic surgeon, said the best situation is to return from a scaphoid fracture in three months. The regular season starts on 7 April.
"It shocked us all," Tatis said. "I was exercising. I was doing my activities. It kept getting worse over time while I was getting heavier in my workouts. It was a really big surprise. ... It's bad. It's awful. I think everyone is disappointed, especially me. As a team, we have a very good chance this year. I just want to be there for my teammates and fans."
Tatis, in what was described as a minor motorcycle accident in early December, said he started experiencing wrist pain shortly thereafter.
"They were just bruises, for which he received medical treatment," Tatis said of the accident on Monday. "I didn't feel so well at the time. It was just like a week or two (later) when you slip your wrists on second base. There was such a feeling. I was spinning an ax in my field. I was feeling good. It surprised us."
Preller said doctors on the team realized the fracture was "a few months old" and that they magnified it again.
"I think it's hard to say exactly (when) it was," Preller said. "...we've talked to him about the accident he had in the off-season. It seems that, from hearing him, (wrist injury) was something that happened to him throughout the season."
Due to the lockdown, only team doctors could communicate with players from December 2 through the labor standoff that ended last Thursday. No other personnel were allowed to speak to the players or their representatives at the time, and the team could not bring Tatis in for an investigation after the accident.
"It certainly could have been a different story," Tatis said.
"It was a different offseason," Preller said. "... I think when the report about the motorcycle accident in the Dominican came out, that we were able to talk through the medical team and then through its representatives about things at that time and (the information) original Roop just came back that it was the bumps and scuffs and more scuffs that he was worried about. ... He never thought of fractures or wrists or anything like that."
The team became aware of the possibility of a problem with Tatis' wrist late last week, but the extent of the injury was not known until an X-ray was performed on Sunday.
Tatis said the pain intensified about a month ago when he was swinging.
"It was nothing crazy," he said. "I felt like it was something we could work through. I always play through the pain. I thought I could get over it, but this time apparently we couldn't get over it.
It is standard for contracts to contain clauses prohibiting extracurricular activities that have a high potential for injury. Those clauses typically allow a team to recoup all or a portion of the money owed to a player. A team source said it was unlikely the Padres would follow that path.
Tatis, who is owed $5 million in 2022, said he couldn't be sure when the crash happened.
"I had some incidents," he said. "It could be anything. I had another fall, but it wasn't anything crazy. Just a small ache. It goes away when you do normal activities. But when you really take it up and down, it goes away." Try to push it, then it comes back."
Utility infielder Ha-song seems to be the most likely fill-in for Kim Tatis, at least early in the spring, with second baseman Jake Cronenworth slipping too many times. The team's top potential player CJ Abrams is also shortstop.
"It's obviously a hit, but it gives someone else a chance," said manager Bob Melvin. "... we're talking about a boy. Obviously, he's extremely important, but that should prompt us to take the fort back. And that's how we're going to approach him. ... (Kim) There's going to be a great opportunity here. But Cronenworth can play there. We'll see where we are with Abrams down the road."