Padres top pick Donavan Tate suffers injury, will miss Arizona fall league

New Padre Donavan Tate takes in San Diego’s game with the Cubs after signing with the Padres. (AP photo)

The mid-summer excitement of the Padres signing of top draft pick Donavan Tate has given way to a disappointment. The Georgia high school sensation, taken with the third pick in the draft, will now miss the entire Arizona Fall Instructional League.

Tate — who has not played since late spring — will undergo surgery next Wednesday in Inglewood for torn tendons in his pubic bone area. Signed to a $6.1 million contract in mid-August, the Padres were hopeful the first round pick would spend upwards of eight-weeks in intensive instruction at their Arizona fall camp.

Tate admitted to the Padres this week he may have injured himself during the high school season, saying he had slight pain when he played back-to-back high school games in the spring, but that the pain subsided days later. He may have aggravated it by taking part in early season conditioning drills at the University of North Carolina before he signed with the Padres.

The pain intensified though after his first workout at the Padres’ Peoria complex in early September, with Tate feeling sharp pains in his initial morning batting practice drills. By the afternoon workout, he could not run, nor play in the outfield.

It is a significant setback for Tate, who missed five weeks of private tutoring, that would have put him ahead of the curve heading towards the Padres Cactus League camp next February.

He was examined for a possible sports hernia, then a stress fracture of the pubic bone, but he never made progress till an MRI found tears in the tendons attached to the bone.

Doctors told the Padres the injury is more common in NHL players, and that the rehab time will be eight weeks.

San Diego’s second round pick is also down. Texas slugging outfielder Everett Williams, who has been the hitting highlight in the fall camp, has now been diagnosed with flat feet and has been given orthodics to help his condition.

Padres notebook

The Padres have told rookie shortstop Evereth Cabrera they will not allow him to play winter ball in the Carribean.

Fearing burnout or a possible injury, the organization wants him to take the winter off. Cabrera, who was a Rule 5-draft pick from the Colorado Rockies organization in the winter, has played 100-games at shortstop, after starring last year as a 2nd baseman in the Class A-South Atlantic League. He may turn out the best free agent draft acquisition ever by GM Kevin Towers.

The season will end on Sunday for the Padres, but it won’t end for some of their pitchers. Manager Bud Black confirmed to SDNN that rookie lefthander Aaron Poreda will be sent to the Arizona Instructional League next week to work on pitch location.

Luis Perdomo, another Towers Rule 5 pickup, will pitch in the Dominican Republic winter league. Edwin Mujica has been assigned to pitch in Venezuala, along with newly acquired Sean Gallagher. The club will also discuss possible fall assignments for young pitchers Ryan Webb and Adam Russell in Arizona.

Rookie slugger Kyle Blanks, who hit 10 homers before suffering an arch injury, is out of a walking boot, but will do no baseball related activity until February. The club shutdown rookie starting pitcher Mat Latos, who piled up 125-innings this season, moving from Class A ball to Petco Park in a three month span. He went (4-5) in his first taste of big league pitching.

Matt Antonelli, whose career has crashed and burned after two terrible seasons in Portland, was pulled off the Beavers roster in August, and sent to Arizona for four weeks of individual instruction. Thought to be the second baseman of the future, Antonelli hit an anemic .191-.186) in two years in the Pacific Coast League.

Padres minor league hitting coach Tony Muser did a video breakdown of Antonelli’s successful seasons earlier in the minors and in college, and began a massive rebuilding job of his mechanics. He likely will not be protected on the 40-man roster in November.

The Padres also have tough decisions to make with minor league outfielder Chad Huffman, left-handed starter Will Inman and infielder Mike Baxter, all who could be lost in the minor league draft. Clubs must decide on adding players to their 40-man roster after three years of minor league serviced time.

Lee Hamilton hosts afternoon talkshows on XX-1090 Sports Radio and writes columns weekly for SDNN.

Tags: Adam Russell, Arizona Fall Instructional League, Donavan Tate, Edwin Mujica, Evereth Cabrera, Everett Williams, Luis Perdomo, Ryan Webb, San Diego Padres, SDNN

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