Tuesday BP: Padres and Dodgers suffer setbacks

Good morning, baseball fans.

The San Francisco Giants main division rivals in the National League West at the moment are the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, and each team has suffered a significant loss this week.

First up, Padres star Fernando Tatis, Jr. tested positive for a performance enhancing substance and it was announced over the weekend that he would receive an 80-game suspension. The excuses ranged from the weird (a ringworm medication) to the absurd (fungus from a haircut) and it was clear that the organization was beyond disappointed.

After signing him to a 14-year $350 million extension in early 2021, Tatis is now set to miss the entire 2022 season (an off-season motorcycle accident caused a wrist injury that he had already been missing time for). The 80-game suspension is effective immediately, which seems kind of questionable as he is still on the injured list, but it would also extend into the 2023 season as well. I’d feel bad for Padres fans if, well, you know, they hadn’t just signed Juan Soto. Also the team has already been doing pretty well without Tatis this season, so it’s not like this is a season-breaker.

Meanwhile, farther north, the Dodgers announced yesterday that their ace pitcher Walker Buehler would undergo season-ending elbow surgery. They didn’t specify exactly what it is that is wrong with Buehler’s elbow, it sounds like the surgery is in part to figure out what exactly is wrong, after MRI results did not produce enough information to give a diagnosis. This leaves the Dodgers’ rotation to rely very heavily upon Julio Urías and Tyler Anderson, with Clayton Kershaw still out with back issues.

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants play game two of this four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks today at 6:45 p.m. PT>