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UPDATE: The Padres officially activated Tatis from the 10-day IL on Friday.
The #Padres have activated SS Fernando Tatis Jr. from the 10-day IL and optioned INF/OF Tucupita Marcano to the alternate training site.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 16, 2021
San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is likely to return to the diamond tonight, just in time for the first of 19 battles this season in the game’s most meaningful rivalry.
Padres beat writer Kevin Acee tweeted Thursday that San Diego intends to activate Tatis off of the injured list before Friday’s series-opening home game versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. The third-year superstar has spent the minimum 10 days on the IL after he suffered a left shoulder subluxation on April 5.
As has been apparent for almost a week, the Padres intend to activate Fernando Tatis Jr. before tomorrow's game against the Dodgers.
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) April 15, 2021
Such a quick return is remarkable considering how Tatis went down in a heap when he got injured at the end of a long swing that also did some damage to his labrum. However, the Padres are aiming to get him back into their lineup for this showdown between possibly the two best teams in the National League. And they don’t seem too fond of one another.
Fantasy managers obviously have no choice here — you need to activate Tatis as soon as the Padres do. Admittedly, that ignores a lot of risks. It’s hard to believe that Tatis is truly 100 percent healthy. The odds of a re-injury are high. He’s facing the Dodgers, who have lined up Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw and Trevor Bauer to take the mound this weekend in San Diego. But you can overlook those risks when you’re talking about one of the best players in baseball.
Tatis was only 3-for-18 with one RBI prior to his injury. Friday’s first pitch between the Padres and the Dodgers is set for 10:10 p.m. Eastern.