Padres fans anxious as Fernando Tatis Jr. set for MRI before start of 2nd half

San Diego's 2024 season could hinge on the results of a single scan of Fernando Tatis Jr.'s leg.

Eric Cole

Milwaukee Brewers v San Diego Padres / Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/GettyImages

One of the lows from the San Diego Padres' first half — of which there were several — was the revelation that Fernando Tatis Jr. had a stress reaction in his leg that threatened to keep him out for a long time. Stress reactions like his are rare in baseball and can be precursors to stress fractures, which are especially bad when we're talking about the femur, so there was a chance that Tatis Jr. could miss most of the second half of the 2024 season.

While the most recent update from Tatis Jr. himself suggested he was out of the woods when it comes to the worst-case scenario and was feeling better, the real test will be when he gets an MRI to see how the injury is actually healing. That MRI was scheduled to happen during the All-Star break, so we should get even more clarity soon as to when Tatis Jr. could return.

Results of Fernando Tatis Jr.'s MRI could make or break the Padres' season

It isn't an exaggeration that the results of Tatis Jr.'s exam could swing the fortunes of the Padres' season one way or the other. If the scan finds that he is healing quickly, San Diego could get an MVP-level talent back in their lineup for most of the second half and the Padres could make a real run.

However, if the scan reveals that he is healing slowly or even that there is a stress fracture that isn't particularly symptomatic yet, San Diego's lineup becomes a lot less scary the rest of the way. The Padres will remain good, but they would really have to hope that Jackson Merrill and Jurickson Profar keep up their All-Star-level production and Manny Machado gets back on track to have a fighting chance at a playoff spot.

There are, of course, more variables in play for the Padres. Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish coming back healthy would take a lot of pressure off of Tatis Jr.'s return and we still don't know what the front office will do at the trade deadline. However, there is probably no single factor that matters more to San Diego's 2024 season than Tatis Jr.'s scan this week.

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Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.