San Diego Padres: State of the franchise, shortstop

We review the quality of each position at the big league level and in the minors for the San Diego Padres. First up is shortstop.

When it comes to the positional depth at shortstop, the San Diego Padres have no shortage of talent. Highlighted by the debut of Fernando Tatis Jr. last year, the then 20-year-old blossomed into a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate. And while he was limited to just 84 games because of injuries, he figures to be a mainstay at the position for the next decade.

Tatis’ combination of power and speed are tough to come by in a player, which makes him so valuable. He’s under team control through the 2024 season, and while I’d like to see Padres general manager AJ Preller work out a long-term extension with his talented shortstop, the two sides have reportedly not gone down that road yet.

Let’s see what the Padres have behind Tatis at the position.

CJ Abrams (ETA: 2022)

Despite acquiring Tatis in June 2016, the Padres drafted Abrams with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. The 19-year-old out of Blessed Trinity High School was widely considered to be one of the best high school shortstop prospects in the country. Abrams is already ranked as the sixth-best shortstop prospect by MLB Pipeline and got his feet wet in Rookie ball last year.

In 32 games, Abrams posted a .401/.442/.662 line with 12 doubles, eight triples, three home runs and 22 RBI to go along with 14 stolen bases. He committed 11 errors, and a recorded a .919 fielding percentage, so he’ll need to clean that up when he begins the year at Single-A Fort Wayne.