Padres takeaways: Fernando Tatis Jr. left leg, Brandon Lockridge first impression

SAN FRANCISCO — Fernando Tatis Jr. missed just over 10 weeks this summer with a stress reaction in his left thigh, an injury he said stemmed from running around on the artificial turf field at the Gocheok Sky Dome in March.

Whenever and however the ailment developed, it wasn’t the first time the San Diego Padres right fielder had suffered an injury to that same bone.

When he was 8 years old, Tatis broke his left femur while trying to do a backflip. He spent the next few months in a cast and had to relearn how to walk. But soon he was able to run again—and occasionally do a backflip.

“As a kid, I was always jumping around,” Tatis said. “I grew up on a farm, so I was running downhill, jumping on things. Yeah. I had a Tarzan-like life.”

Tatis, now 25, remains an exceptionally confident athlete. On Sunday at Oracle Park, during an afternoon of relative (and planned) rest, he came off the bench and swung at the first pitch he saw. The result was a go-ahead solo shot, Tatis’ first career pinch-hit home run and his fourth home run in five games. The Padres won 4-3 in 10 innings to sweep the San Francisco Giants and maintain their status as a threat to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ supremacy in the National League West.

WELCOME TO THE GAME @TATIS_JR 😤 photo.twitter.com/IhwuJ5UgKe

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 15, 2024

Since his return on Sept. 2, Tatis has gone 13-for-44 (.295) with those four home runs, a defense that’s getting attention and a stress reaction that hasn’t fully healed. He doesn’t believe the injury and a broken femur from his youth are related.

“I don’t think so,” Tatis said. “I’ve played very well my whole career and my speed is part of my game. … (The doctors) haven’t talked about it.”

When presented with some basic information about Tatis’ history, a medical expert agreed.

“His fracture at age 8 has absolutely nothing to do with the stress response,” said Dr. Timothy Gibson, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center who did not examine Tatis. “The initial fracture was traumatic. At age 8, you typically heal completely about three to four months after the injury. Bone heals with bone, not with scar tissue, so when it heals, it’s like nothing ever happened. Especially with children. It’s just a coincidence that the stress response” — which is not a traumatic injury — “was in the same bone.”

“The artificial turf (in South Korea) may have contributed to the development of the stress response, and it certainly may have exacerbated the symptoms,” Dr. Gibson added. “But there were probably other factors at play, such as overtraining or playing year-round without adequate rest.”

Tatis, for his part, doesn’t think he played much last year. After losing his 2022 season to wrist surgery and a suspension — and then having shoulder surgery and a second wrist surgery — he appeared in 141 of a possible 142 games in 2023. He then played a few more games in winter ball.

“My body felt great, even in the off-season,” Tatis said. “My legs felt really, really good. I was in a place my lower body had never been. I was running faster, I was stronger in my lower body, and that (stress) reaction didn’t come until after Korea.”

The Padres will continue to monitor Tatis and rest him periodically; Sunday was his second start in 11 games. While not yet 100 percent, Tatis offers a combination of power and aggressiveness that could elevate a contact-driven offense that appears built for October.

“We knew he was probably going to be out of the game today,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said after Sunday’s game. “The medical team is great. He’s great. The doctors are great. We’re just looking at it holistically and making sure we keep him fresh and stay ahead of it because we don’t want it to get any worse.”

Lockridge auditions to be postseason weapon

Brandon Lockridge was a bit of an uncertain baserunner until last year. (Bob Kupbens / Imagn Images)

As a freshman at Troy University, Brandon Lockridge stole just one base. The following spring, he stole 11. In his final collegiate season, in 2018, he stole 25. But it wasn’t until 2023, Lockridge said, that he learned how to take full advantage of his unusual speed.

“I always erred on the side of safety, even when I went to play professional baseball,” said Lockridge, 27. “I didn’t want to make outs and all that. It was a very cautious attitude rather than being on the side of aggression.”

Amid intensive work with Matt Talarico, the New York Yankees’ director of speed development and base running, Lockridge collected 40 steals last season between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. This year, the outfielder stole 34 bases in 72 Triple-A games before the Yankees traded him to the Padres for relievers Enyel De Los Santos and Thomas Balboni Jr. After switching organizations, he recorded 12 steals in 32 games with Triple-A El Paso.

Then, in the top of the ninth inning on Friday, Lockridge made his major-league debut pinch-running for Jurickson Profar. He had been groomed by the Padres coaching staff to be aggressive. And he was.

On the first pitch he saw, and with the Padres leading by four runs, Lockridge headed for second base. He finished with a steal that stood after replay review. He later scored on a double by Manny Machado.

It was a brief but successful first audition for Lockridge, who could be tapped as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement next month. Afterward, he exchanged text messages with a trusted friend.

“He’s probably been one of the biggest things for my career,” Lockridge said of Talarico, “and I told him that since I got traded, since I got drafted. I just thanked him so much. He really instilled this confidence in my run game.

“Now it’s… muscle memory.”

As the Padres inch closer to October, Lockridge is competing with Tyler Wade and Mason McCoy for a spot on a theoretical postseason roster. His ability to steal bases and defensive versatility — Lockridge entered the eighth inning of Sunday’s game as a relief pitcher in left field and appeared comfortable fielding a few fly balls — could give him the edge.

(Top photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)