RETURN OF SLAM DIEGO
Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. flips his bat after hitting a grand slam in the second inning of Tuesday’s exhibition game against Arizona in Scottsdale, Ariz. Umpire Brian Gorman and catcher Daulton Varsho watch the ball.
So, Fernando Tatis Jr. might be ready to start the season. He might even be in midseason form.
He did something in the second inning of Tuesday’s 7-2 exhibition victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks that he is kind of known for, something he did in the middle of last season that launched Slam Diego and started the Padres on their way to 22 victories in their next 25 games.
On a fastball from Caleb Smith that could hardly have been more squarely in the middle of the strike zone, Tatis yanked a grand slam an estimated 441 feet and with an exit velocity of 113.6 mph onto the grassy hill beyond the wall in left field.
That would have been his hardest hit last season and his third-longest home run.
He also singled in the first inning, moving Trent Grisham to third, and then stole second, drawing a throw that allowed Grisham to sprint home.
“Had a couple good defensive plays, great at-bats, did something on the bases,” manager Jayce Tingler said. “That’s everything you want to see.”
Lamet faces hitters
Dinelson Lamet hopped off the mound after throwing 15 pitches Tuesday morning in Peoria, a good sign that he felt good at the conclusion of his first live batting practice of the spring.
“I think the most important thing is I felt healthy and didn’t have any sort of issues coming back,” he said a short while later.
It was a big step. Lamet finished fourth in National League Cy Young voting last year but was pulled from his final regular-season start with elbow discomfort and did not pitch in the postseason. He underwent plateletrich plasma (PRP) therapy and rested for a time in the offseason.
“Facing hitters made me feel more confident after not having faced them for five months and not having as much activity,” Lamet said. “… It was good. For me, a lot of it was I didn’t necessarily want to come back out and be the exact same person or pick up where I was (last year). I knew that wasn’t going to happen. At the same time, I know I’m good. It’s been going good. But I (showed) that I could do it and nothing jumped out at me.”
How his right arm feels today will be crucial. How he fares in the coming weeks even more so.
“It’s going to be an ongoing discussion with our medical team,” Lamet said when asked how likely it is he is ready at the start of the season. “I think that’s a good thing. As a unit, we have good communication on the subject. We’re taking everything day by day. I know I’m going to be ready to help in the season. At the same time, I want to make sure I’m progressing well. Because once I join the team, I don’t want to go backward.”
Lamet threw four breaking balls that he said afterward were change-ups. He threw just three change-ups in 2020 and has thrown the pitch fewer than 3 percent of the time in his career, as he relies on a high-90s fastball and two varied sliders.
“I have been working on the change-up,” he said. “It’s a pitch I’ve lacked over the years.”
The Padres and Lamet, who missed all of 2018 and half of ’19 following Tommy John surgery, agreed to a one-year, $4.2 million contract for 2021.
Castillo shuts it down
A short time after Lamet left the field, Jose Castillo took the mound for his first time throwing to batters.
It did not go well, as the injury-plagued left-hander cut short his outing with forearm tightness.
Castillo, who has pitched in one game since 2018 due to various injuries, walked off the mound after throwing his sixth pitch. Other than his clear frustration and the fact pitching coach Larry Rothschild immediately signaled that was it for Castillo, there was no outward sign what happened. Three pitches before stopping his session, Castillo had spun a beautiful slider past Victor Caratini’s bat.
Castillo suffered a flexor strain in his left forearm during spring training in 2019 and did not return until August. He left his only game after facing four batters with what was later diagnosed as a torn tendon in his index finger. He suffered a lat strain in summer camp last year and did not pitch in 2020.