As Our Pro Baseball Docs Opined 3 Months Ago, Fernando Tatis Jr. June Return Unlikely

Even after postponing his CT scan to give his fractured left wrist more time to heal, Fernando Tatis Jr.'s most recent imaging didn't show sufficient progress to green light the 23-year-old to begin swinging a bat again, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

While this is not the timeline that the Padres were gunning for, Tatis Jr. is tracking with the ProBaseballDocs anticipated pace, and a return at or after the all-star break in late July would be great news. 

Fernando Tatis Jr. Injury Update

The initial and continued optimism from the Padres of a three-month absence and potential return in June was always unrealistic, as the ProBaseballDocs explained when news of the injury dropped in March. 

Based on reporting, Tatis Jr. suffered the scaphoid injury in motorcycle accident in December but the team discovered and addressed the fracture when the lockout ended in March. 

Because of the long layoff between the injury and the surgery, Tatis Jr. had a delayed union or non-union fracture – meaning the bone didn't heal as expected without surgery – which is typical for scaphoid fracture because of lack of blood flow. 

Tatis Jr. reported feeling discomfort during prep for the season while the lockout was still halting team activities.

Because of this he more than likely had a bone graft procedure to promote healing, as it was no longer an acute – or clean – fracture and needed additional support.

This placement and type of fracture generally holds a four-to-six month timeline, meaning Tatis Jr.'s availability by the all-star game is even on the faster side of things.

As we saw with his shoulder ailment last year, the all-out shortstop can and will return quickly and play through otherwise cumbersome injuries, but even his gung-ho attitude and the Padres' relentless hope won't speed up the delayed schaphoid fracture.

In the meantime, however, the Padres have gotten solid play for replacement Ha-Seong Kim. The 26-year-old is batting .212 with four home runs, six doubles, 23 runs and 20 RBI while posting a 0.9 defensive WAR in the hole.