SAN DIEGO -- It¡¯s a sight Padres fans have been hoping to see for months now: Fernando Tatis Jr. holding a baseball bat.

Only it¡¯s not quite what those fans might hope it means.

The Padres¡¯ superstar shortstop still hasn¡¯t been cleared for batting practice, the most important step left before he can think about returning to the field after he broke a bone in his left wrist during the offseason. In fact, he still hasn¡¯t been cleared to swing at full capacity.

But Tatis is swinging a bat again. That became clear on Tuesday, when Tatis was spotted doing just that in the Padres¡¯ indoor batting cage at Petco Park. Video of Tatis taking swings quickly hit social media.?Fans?can view the batting cage from a hallway that leads to the seating area between the dugouts.

So what exactly is going on? Acting manager Ryan Christenson explained after the Padres¡¯ 3-2, 11-inning victory over the D-backs.

¡°It¡¯s more of him doing a little systems check, trying to figure where the wrist has progressed,¡± Christenson said. ¡°I know he has not been cleared to go through any kind of swing progression -- hitting balls, hitting off the tee too much or any baseballs coming at him. As far as I know, it¡¯s just a couple dry swings, getting the feel for it and figuring out which way we can go moving forward.¡±

A day later, after Tatis completed an extensive on-field workout that did not include swinging, he spoke briefly with reporters. He said the swings fans saw on social media were about ¡°40 percent¡± of his full capacity. He noted that he¡¯s been holding a bat, swinging lightly, for about a month or two.

¡°It¡¯s just to see how it feels, to try my strength,¡± Tatis said.

So¡­ how does it feel?

¡°Every day it feels a little bit better,¡± Tatis said. ¡°Obviously we're progressing, day by day.¡±

In the meantime, Tatis has resumed almost all other baseball activity, now that he¡¯s been cleared to play catch and take full-scale ground balls. Since his latest round of testing gave him clearance for those activities, Tatis has been working extensively with Padres staff pregame, mostly focused on defense and conditioning.

¡°It feels great to be on the field, to be doing baseball activities, getting back on track, getting the same feel back again,¡± Tatis said. ¡°It's always a great day when you're in the park.¡±

The most important hurdle, of course, is for Tatis to begin swinging at a capacity closer to 100 percent. The Padres have said that won¡¯t come until after further imaging on his wrist shows enough healing that he can get clearance from a doctor.

From there, Tatis will progress toward hitting lightly tossed balls, then eventually, batting practice. All along, the Padres have said they won't have a timetable for Tatis¡¯ return until he gets that clearance.

On Wednesday, manager Bob Melvin returned to the dugout after 10 days on the sideline in COVID-19 protocols. He echoed Christenson¡¯s sentiment.

¡°We¡¯re in a period right now where we¡¯re trying to find out how he feels,¡± Melvin said. ¡°I knew he took some dry swings with a fungo. I think he hit a couple off a tee yesterday. We¡¯re just trying to take stock of where he¡¯s at. We¡¯re not pushing anything.

¡°But we¡¯re in a period here where something could change from day to day or week to week, and we want to just know how he¡¯s feeling. That¡¯s part of what you saw yesterday.¡±