San Diego Padres’ Odds Following Fernando Tatis Jr. Injury

Fernando Tatis Jr.'s Wrist Injury Hurts San Diego's World Series Odds

The San Diego Padres will be without their best player for nearly half the season. General manager A.J. Preller told the media that Fernando Tatis Jr. has a broken left wrist and will need surgery that could keep him out until July. The Padres are still one of the favorites to win the World Series, but their odds dropped from +1200 to +1400 as a result of the news.

Fernando Tatis Impact

Since making his debut in 2019, Fernando Tatis Jr. has been one of the best players in baseball. Tatis finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2019, and he was a Silver Slugger that finished in the top four in NL MVP voting in each of the last two seasons. The 23-year-old has incredible power, but he has struggled to stay healthy.

Tatis has been injured in each of his four seasons with the Padres. He had a hamstring injury that sent him to the IL in 2019, and a back injury bothered him throughout 2020. A shoulder injury that wouldn’t go away kept him from being at his best last season, and now he will miss a significant part of this year too.

There’s no doubt that Tatis has the potential to win multiple MVP awards given his tools, but San Diego has to be a little concerned with his durability. The Padres signed Tatis to a 14-year, $340 million contract in February of last year.

San Diego's World Series Chances

The absence of Tatis will definitely hurt this lineup, but there are still some good hitters. Jake Cronenworth had a strong rookie season, and Manny Machado is a strong bat in the middle of the order. Trent Grisham can get on base at the top of the lineup, while Wil Myers and Eric Hosmer are veterans that can make solid contact.

San Diego’s big problem in 2021 was its pitching. The Padres had brought in Cy Young Award winners Blake Snell and Yu Darvish to contend with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, but Darvish had the worst season of his career and Snell really struggled too. Joe Musgrove had a solid season though, and Mike Clevinger will return from injury.

It's not worth backing the Padres at this point, but San Diego is a team to keep an eye on early in the season. If Tatis returns to form and the pitching bounces back, this team could make a deep run in the postseason.