When will Fernando Tatis Jr. return to the Padres lineup this season?

The San Diego Padres headed into the All-Star break with a 52-42 record sitting in second place in the NL West. It doesn’t sound bad, but they are 10 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers and only hold a 2.5-game lead for the second National League Wild Card spot. Star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. hasn’t played all season due to a fractured left wrist.

Fernando Tatis Jr. injury update

Update, August 12 - Tatis Jr. is facing a suspension for PED use, and it’s a long one. The shortstop is out 80 games, which effectively ends his 2022 season with the Padres.

Update, August 2 - Whenever Tatis does return, he’ll have a new star teammate in the lineup. The Padres have made the trade for Juan Soto, meaning it’ll be Soto, Tatis and Manny Machado forming a powerhouse nucleus in San Diego for what many hope will be a long time.

Update, July 26 — Tatis is set to take batting practice on the field on Tuesday for the first time since surgery. This is a big step for Tatis and we could see him back in the lineup soon. The initial timeline was early August, which makes sense (some time next week).

On July 15, Tatis was cleared to begin taking swings. More imaging was done on his fractured left wrist, and the team and doctors agreed it was healing well enough that he can begin tee work. The Padres always said that once Tatis was allowed to start swinging, it would be a two-week process to get him in front of live pitching. Tatis will go from tee work to light toss drills and finally to batting practice.

The timetable for Tatis can ramp up or slow down depending on how his wrist is feeling. Assuming things continue to go well, Tatis could be back in the San Diego lineup in early August.