‘He’s Back’ Petaju, who received a banned substance ban, joins SD “First appearance in Arizona expedition”

 San Diego Padres Fernando Tatis Jr. (24) joined the team ahead of the end of the suspension due to the discovery of prohibited substances. 

MLB.com, the official major league media, 메이저사이트said on the 18th (Korean time), “Tatis Jr. has finally returned to San Diego. Tatis Jr., who has three games left on the suspension, can start playing against Arizona on the 21st.”

Tatis Jr. is a special shortstop with a batting average of .292 (303 hits in 1036 bats), 81 homers, 195 RBIs, and an OPS of .965 in 273 major league games. However, he suffered a broken wrist before last season and was suspended for 80 games after being caught with a banned substance. 

Tatis Jr., who did not play a single game in the major leagues last year, showed overwhelming results with 7 home runs, 15 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.802 in 8 games, batting average of . . 

MLB.com said, “Tatis Jr., who joined the team, will not play in additional rehabilitation games until the suspension is over. On this day, he trained with his teammates when batting practice just started, but he left the field before the fans entered the field.” 

Director Bob Melvin said, “Everyone has probably seen the results Tatis Jr. recorded. He seems to be seeing the ball pretty well. We are going to take him carefully to Arizona. There he will play his first match.” 

Tatis Jr. has played shortstop for most of his career, but will most likely play outfield after returning. This is because San Diego brought free agent shortstop Xander Bogarts last winter for 280 million dollars (approximately 369 billion won) in 11 years.

MLB.com said, “When Tatis Jr. returns to the team, he will play leadoff right field. He switched positions to the outfield after San Diego signed Bogarts. San Diego decided he would be better off playing in the outfield after Tatis Jr. underwent two surgeries on his left wrist and one on his left shoulder in 2022.