The San Diego Padres look will face the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend, in one of the most anticipated early season series and that includes team star Fernando Tatis Jr.
The Padres ended their seven-game road trip with a resounding 8-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, to tie in the four-game series after the Buccaneers won the middle games.
More than the win, the best news the ninth frontier received is that Tatis has had battle drills and, according to manager Jayce Tingler, they hope to activate this Friday for the series’ start against the Dodgers, ardent rivals in the National’s West Division. League.
The Dominican shortstop suffered a partial shoulder dislocation while swinging on April 5. The condition appeared to mark the expected end of the season for Tatis just weeks after signing a historic $ 341 million 14-year contract, but medical evaluations showed the injury did not require surgery, only rest and rehabilitation.
“We just have to check a few things with our medical team,” Tingler expected after the game in Pittsburgh. “We are optimistic that Fernando has a good chance of playing tomorrow (Friday).”
For the Padres, the return of Tatis is great news as they have excellent accounts with the Dodgers going beyond the sweep they received in the second round of the last postseason.
The Dodgers have won the division pennant in eight consecutive seasons, and in the past 10 seasons, they have won the annual series against the Padres.
“It will be a good test for us,” said Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer. “It will be fun to start the first of many series against these guys (the Dodgers), but they have earned the right to be named the best baseball team. They have earned the right to be at the top of the division. “
San Diego has built a team around Tatis, Manny Machado and a great pitching staff that appears to be able to compete with the reigning Major League champions.
In the 2020 season, the Padres tried but had to settle for winning the playoff ticket as a wild card team.
Tatis, 22, was one of the main reasons San Diego made it to the playoffs, hitting .277 with the bat with 17 homers, 45 RBI’s, 50 runs scored and 11 stolen bases in 59 of the 60 games this season. Abbreviated for the coronavirus pandemic.
His performance placed Tatis in fourth place in the National MVP Voting.
The Padres (9-5), in the middle of a seven-game run without a break, will go into the weekend’s series against the Dodgers after winning five of the seven games on the road and are in third place in the West. Nacional, behind the San Francisco Giants (8-4) and two games of the Dodgers (10-2).
Rookie left-handed Ryan Weather (1-0, 1.50), fifth-best prospect in the Padres organization, will make his first Major League start in Friday’s game against the Dodgers and will face right-handed Walker Buehler (1-0, 1.50)).).
“I hope (Weather) will throw strikes and give us a chance to win,” Tingler said. “There is a reason why we have a lot of faith in him and we are excited for him.”
On Saturday, the Dodgers will send ace Clayton Kershaw (2-1, 2.89) to the mound to take on Japanese star Yu Darvish (1-0, 3.06).
To end the series, Blake Snell (0-0, 4.35) will have his first start on Sunday since facing the Dodgers in the World Series when he was part of the Tampa Bay Rays rotation, and it will against Trevor Bauer (2-0, 2.70).