Fernando Tatis Jr. made a game-saving catch in right field on Saturday. He won a Platinum Glove there in 2023. Neither he nor the Padres are interested in messing with a strength to address the center-field-sized hole that opened up with Brandon Lockridge joining Jackson Merrill on the injured list on Monday.
“(Tatis) looks really good in right field,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “He’s a Platinum/Gold Glover. I feel like we’ve got a significant strength there. Let’s keep it a strength.”
That, too, was Tatis’ frame of mind as he was asked about potentially sliding from right to center to help plug a hole until Merrill and/or Lockridge return from their hamstring strains. The possibility had not been presented to him, Tatis said, and he wasn’t interested in starting that conversation. Early in his move to the outfield, he had opined about playing center field one day, but after well over two years of patrolling Petco Park’s spacious right field he sees value right where he’s at.
“The right-field gap and … all the way to the corner is really big, so I see myself as more of a right fielder than a center fielder,” Tatis said. “I won a Platinum Glove in right field. That speaks for itself. I’m really happy where I’m at.”
So who will play center field?
Well, Tyler Wade got the start there on Monday against Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon, but he has 499⅔ innings at the position at all levels in his career as a pro compared to 4,952 ⅔ innings as a shortstop. Shildt mentioned Jason Heyward as a possibility in center, too, but he’s played just seven innings there since the start of 2024.
Connor Joe, called up Monday to replace Lockridge, got a handful of games in center field this year at Triple-A El Paso after Forrest Wall was injured, but Shildt on Monday said that Joe would likely fit into the left field/first base/DH rotation.
The other outfielder on the roster, the right-handed-hitting Oscar Gonzalez, has played nine minor league games in center field and none in the majors.
Better late than never
A product of Poway High School and the University of San Diego, the 32-year-old Joe envisioned a happy homecoming when he signed a big-league deal with the Padres in February.
The numbers game — he had minor league options left and players the team wanted to keep in the organization didn’t — delayed that homecoming until Monday.
“That was a tough one,” Joe said after unpacking his bag in the home clubhouse for the first time. “But basically, just a numbers game, and the best way to keep everyone in the organization was to do it that way. And so that was their decision, and I respect that. And I went to El Paso and stayed fresh, and I’m really happy to be here now.”
Joe was hitting .240/.377/.320 with two RBIs, 11 walks and nine strikeouts in 13 games at Triple-A El Paso. He made his debut with the Giants at Petco Park in 2019 and has played 19 games here in his career, but never with an “SD” on his hat.
“Feels great,” Joe said. “Coming to San Diego was really cool, and it’s nice to be on this side of things and really excited to feel the energy of the crowd and just join this group. I’ve been watching from afar when I can and seeing what they’re doing. It’s really exciting. So to be part of it’s really special.”
Joe is prepared for the coming ticket crush. He’s also a veteran of five big-league seasons, so he knows how to handle that: Who’s coming and who gets player tickets is all left up to his wife, he said.
“That’s just part of it,”Joe said. “Being from San Diego, I’m excited for it and excited for the support around me.”
Shaking … buildings
Most players and staff who felt Monday’s earthquake thought little of it. Shildt figured something was going on with the roof of his building and didn’t realize what he felt was earthquake until later in the day. Tatis laughed at how his mother reacted and went back to sleep.
That was not Alek Jacob’s experience.
The Spokane, Wash. native had grown up hearing tales about the potential for “the big one” to “wipe out the whole Puget Sound area,” Jacob said, referencing the Cascadia Subduction zone fault lines running along the Pacific coast from Canada to Northern California.
“It’s always like haunted (me), Jacob said. “Like when’s it going to happen, when it’s going to happen? But never felt one.”
Until Monday.
The 26-year-old reliever was on the fifth floor of his building when a magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck near Julian.
“It can be only one thing, right?” Jacob said. “ … That was definitely a unique experience. Part of me was a little scared because I didn’t know what was going on, but the other part of me is like what can you do? You can’t really do anything. Whatever’s going to happen, is going to happen.”
Notable
- Like RHP Sean Reynolds (foot) last week, RHP Bryan Hoeing (shoulder) is in San Diego to throw a bullpen on Tuesday in front of the big-league staff as he begins to ramp up his throwing program. He’ll likely return to Arizona for live batting practice sessions before a minor league rehab assignment.
- RHP Matt Waldron (oblique), who was transferred to the 60-day injured list last week to free up a 40-man spot, is back to playing catch as he progresses toward a bullpen.
- A day later, Shildt reiterated that Lockridge’s hamstring strain was mild. It’s just an injury that requires careful, tedious recovery. Said Shildt: “With hamstrings, anytime it happens, you can pretty much guarantee an IL.”
Annie Heilbrunn contributed to this report.
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