Just when the San Diego Padres bulked up their farm system by moving closer Brad Hand to the Cleveland Indians, it looks like the organization’s top overall prospect has suffered a major setback.
According to Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune, 19-year-old shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. will likely undergo surgery to repair a fractured thumb on his non-throwing hand.
“Prized Padres prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. is expected to require surgery and miss the rest of the season after suffering a thumb fracture on his non-throwing hand (left) during a game Thursday night,” the scribe reported.”
There is still some limited hope within the organization that swelling will do down, enabling Tatis Jr. to avoid surgery and play again this season. But that’s not looking good right now.
The Dominican native was hitting .286 with 16 homers and 43 RBI in 88 games at Double-A San Antonio prior to suffering the injury. San Diego was hoping he’d make it to Triple-A this season with an outside shot of earning a cup of tea in the Majors when rosters expand in September.
According to MLB, Tatis Jr. is the top overall prospect in what has to be described as one of the top-three farm systems in baseball. San Diego added catcher Francisco Mejia in the Hand trade earlier this week. He ranks third-best among Padres prospects out of the gate.