Padres get huge news on Fernando Tatis Jr. front

Fernando Tatis Jr. has missed all of the 2022 season for the Padres to this point but his return is seemingly coming closer with the latest rehab update.

When it comes to the San Diego Padres, perhaps the most remarkable part of their current position as the second wild card spot in the National League is that they’ve made it to this point with arguably their best player, Fernando Tatis Jr., not having seen the field for a single inning this season.

Tatis, who underwent offseason wrist surgery and has experienced a slower-than-expected rehabilitation process, has finally started making some progress recently, though. And on Tuesday ahead of the Padres‘ matchup with the Detroit Tigers, he took the biggest step forward yet.

As reported by Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Tatis took on-field batting practice during warm-ups, the first time he’s done so since the wrist surgery.

Padres: Fernando Tatis Jr. taking first on-field batting practice, return inching closer

Even better, Lin got video of Tatis taking swings and he looked quite good doing so.

After the quick session swinging the lumber, Lin asked the Padres superstar how he felt belting some deep shots over the left field wall. Tatis played coy about it but did so while admitting that it felt good out there.

This isn’t to say Tatis will be back in the lineup for San Diego tomorrow or anything like that. However, things have been turning overwhelmingly positive in his recovery, which means a return appears to be much closer than it was previously.

We don’t know when exactly Tatis will be back, but he’s feeling good in live batting practice with the team, so as the Padres look to get a boost down the stretch of the regular season, their young star might provide them exactly that sooner rather than later.