The San Diego Padres’ best player is Fernando Tatis Jr. and their success essentially hinges on Tatis being healthy. He led the National League in WAR this season and hit 42 homers. If he wasn’t healthy for the amount of games he was healthy for, there’s no way the Padres would’ve been in contention in September.
The Padres will continue to rely on Tatis to be an energizer at the top of the lineup but his chances of being available at the top of the lineup may have gone down now that he is not going to be having left shoulder surgery, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.