SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. emerged from the home dugout to cheers and ran out to right field at Petco Park, just as he usually does. The cheers quickly crescendoed into a roar, and Tatis felt something he said he experienced only a few times during his pregame routine.
“I had goosebumps,” Tatis said.
Monday, for the first time in 73 days, the star right fielder played for the San Diego Padres. He went 0-for-4, twice making an out on the first pitch and once on the second. But that hardly mattered.
Tatis was back from the stress reaction in his right thighbone that he once thought would end his season. Joe Musgrove, who returned last month from his own lengthy stay on the injured list, threw six scoreless innings. The Padres shut out the Detroit Tigers, 3-0, to end a marathon stretch of 18 games in 18 days.
And, afterward, they announced another expected return: Wednesday, after an especially needed day of teamwide rest, Yu Darvish will start a big-league game for the first time in 98 days.
“This is a great group,” Tatis said. “And we’re gonna push together hard.”
The Petco Park crowd welcomes Fernando Tatis Jr. back after being activated off the injured list today 🫶 pic.twitter.com/B1NSgC3XLM
— MLB (@MLB) September 2, 2024
The Padres (79-61) can see the finish line, at least for the regular season. Now they appear to be getting back all the pieces to run through it with momentum that could last well into October.
Not that they weren’t already moving — or, in their case, charging — in the right direction. With Monday’s win, the Padres improved to 39-21 since Tatis first went down and 29-12 since the All-Star break, the majors’ best second-half record. They were 40-40 in Tatis’ first 80 games this season.
Not that they felt they didn’t need him.
“He’s just an absolute presence,” manager Mike Shildt said. “The whole group brings their presence, and he’s a great addition, clearly.”
“We missed him,” said infielder Luis Arraez, who drove in two of San Diego’s three runs. “We missed his energy. (This was his) first game back, but we can’t wait to watch him play.”
“We’ve been missing him,” Musgrove said. “He’s a big bat. His presence, his ability to track balls down in the outfield, you feel very confident filling up the zone and letting the defense work behind you. He’s a guy that has been kind of the heart and soul of the team at times here. So, missing him, we’ve done our best to stay above water and keep ourselves in a good position so that he can get himself healthy and come back when he’s ready.”
For a time after Tatis hobbled off the Petco Park field on June 21, that outcome was in doubt. The Padres and their right fielder learned that he had been playing for most of the season with a stress reaction, not a muscular injury in his right quad. The original projected timetable included a wide range of possibilities. According to team sources, those included a scenario in which Tatis would miss at least 12 weeks.
“There was a lot of chance of me missing the entire season, and right away, that was a big downer,” Tatis said. “That’s just shocking, because one day I was on the field, and the other day I was probably losing the season.
“But just all credit to the training staff and to the doctors over here. I feel like we have (had) the right conversation and we have done the right stuff to get back on track. And we definitely did it sooner than we expected it was gonna happen.”
The Padres still must handle him with some caution; Tatis’ injury remains less than fully healed, although the team never expected it would be when he came back. Still, he has been medically cleared to play. He spent the past week accumulating about 30 at-bats in controlled minor-league settings in Arizona. He tested his leg in right field and sprinted at full bore. Roughly a week ago, Tatis said, the team circled Monday as the date of his return.
It happened to coincide with the end of San Diego’s most grueling stretch of the season. The Padres, who won an away series Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays, took the field at Petco Park on Monday afternoon. Then, they engaged in a pitching duel.
They finished 10-8 over the last 18 days.
“It’s a quick turnaround going into a new series, and you played on the other coast, and you got a late afternoon game,” Shildt said. “And I looked up, and it was really reassuring, which I wasn’t surprised about. But I’m not going to take for granted that everything was just a normal day. You talk about elite adjusters … and it’s way easier said than done. We did it, and now we only draw from it because now that is the identity of who we are, which is a very special identity.”
“This could have made or (broken) the season for us, being in a tough stretch like that, especially with some injuries and not being at full capacity,” third baseman Manny Machado said. “I think my goal personally was to be over .500, and we made it two games over .500, and we made it through it. … I think this 18-game stretch made us stronger as a team.”
And the Padres are growing stronger, at least on paper. Tatis’ return allowed Shildt to fully rest All-Star left fielder Jurickson Profar for the first time since June 22. With the Tigers starting a left-hander, starting first baseman Jake Cronenworth came off the bench in Monday’s game. The game was a slog on offense for seven innings, a byproduct of effective pitching and weary position players.
Then the bottom of the eighth arrived. Kyle Higashioka led off with a double. Mason McCoy laid down a bunt single. Arraez sent a two-strike ground ball through the right side of the infield to give the Padres a 2-0 lead. Tatis, swinging at the first pitch, advanced the runners with another ground ball to the right side. (“I just loved his approach,” Shildt said.) Two batters later, Machado singled the same direction to drive in an insurance run.
“The eighth inning,” Shildt said, “was a really beautiful representation of how baseball’s supposed to be played on the offensive side.”
It was a welcome bookend to an afternoon marked by good vibes. A couple of hours earlier, while running out to right field, Tatis had felt the hairs on his skin stand up.
“It’s a beautiful feeling, man,” he said. “My energy went right through the roof. That was the push that I definitely needed, and it was just beautiful all the way around.”
(Photo: Matt Thomas / San Diego Padres / Getty Images)
