Fernando Tatis Jr. Assigned To Amarillo On Major League Rehab

The San Diego Padres announced that rookie shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. will join the Amarillo Sod Poodles today for a Major League Rehab Assignment. Tatis was placed on the 10-day injured list on April 29 due to a left hamstring strain.
Over 27 games in his 2019 rookie season with the Padres, Tatis is batting .300 (30-for-100) with 14 runs, five doubles, one triple, six home runs, 13 RBI, eight walks, and six stolen bases. 
The Dominican native, who entered 2019 rated as the No. 1 overall prospect by ESPN.com and No. 2 by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, became the youngest player in Padres history to play on Opening Day at 20 years, 85 days old and the youngest player to start on Opening Day since Adrian Beltre debuted for the Dodgers in 1999. Only 31 position players at his age or younger have started on Opening Day since 1900.
In his Major League debut on March 28 against San Francisco, the starting shortstop batted in the six-spot and went 2-for-3 in the Padres 2-0 win over the Giants. 
Tatis spent the entire 2018 campaign with Double-A San Antonio, posting a .286/.355/.507 slash line with 16 home runs and 43 RBI before undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a fractured left thumb in July. He earned Texas League Player of the Month honors in May, posting a .336/.414/.639 line with 12 doubles, seven home runs, and 16 RBI and hit safely in 23 of his 29 May games.
On July 19, 2018, he fractured his left thumb sliding headfirst into second base on a steal attempt. At the time of his season-ending injury, his 77 runs scored led the Texas League and ranked second across the entire minors while also ranking second in the Texas League in extra-base hits (42), fourth in slugging (.507), tied for fifth in doubles (22), tied for sixth in hits (101) and tied for seventh in home runs (16) and stolen bases (16). He earned Texas League Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star honors and was named a MiLB.com Organization All-Star for San Diego. 
He was selected to the World Team roster representing the Dominican Republic for his first SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game appearance on July 15, 2018 at Nationals Park where he hit a 107.1 MPH single to left field on a 102.3 MPH fastball off Cincinnati prospect Hunter Greene in the top of the third. Following the season, he played for Estrellas Orientales in his hometown of San Pedro de Marcois in the Dominican Winter League and helped the club to their first championship in more than half a century. 
Tatis made his professional debut with the AZL Padres (R) on June 22, 2016 and hit .273 (48-for-176) in 43 games before also hitting .273 (12-for-44) in 12 games for Tri-City (A).
He spent the majority of the 2017 season with Fort Wayne (A) and became the first 18-year-old in Midwest League history to post a 20-20 season (21 HR, 29 SB).
Tatis is the son of former 11-year MLB veteran infielder Fernando Tatis Sr., widely known for being the only player in MLB history to hit two grand slams in one inning on April 23, 1999 with the St. Louis Cardinals against Chan Ho Park of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This assignment marks the second Major League rehabber sent to Amarillo's franchise in 2019.