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SAN DIEGO -- Two of the Padres’ most important players are on their way back.

The Padres got positive news regarding Fernando Tatis Jr. and Yu Darvish over the past four days. Tatis sprinted in the outfield on Thursday, then took batting practice with the team for the first time on Friday. He's eyeing a September return.

Darvish, meanwhile, was reinstated from the restricted list with a plan to return in September as well. He appears to be on track. On Sunday, Darvish threw three simulated innings at Petco Park, facing hitters from the Padres' Single-A affiliate in Lake Elsinore. He recorded 13 outs and didn't allow anything resembling a hit.

Both Tatis and Darvish have work to do before they return, meaning the Padres must sustain another couple of weeks without the duo. Still, it represents a clear late-season boost.

“It’s getting real,” said Jackson Merrill after Sunday’s walk-off heroics. “We’re getting down to crunch time, and we’re getting our boys back. So we’re all excited.”

Here's what it means:

1. Questions (but good questions!) in the rotation

How the Padres line up their rotation for the stretch run might be contingent upon outside factors -- like the standings and certain playoff implications. But once they finish their current stretch of 18 games in 18 days, that schedule will ease up significantly.

When Darvish returns to the mix, it's worth wondering if they'd skip a Michael King start, given King’s increasing workload. Or maybe they'd pass on a turn from Martín Pérez. Meanwhile, is there any path back for knuckleballer Matt Waldron, who was demoted last week? (If not in the rotation, then maybe as a long man, where he spent time last season?)

Then, there's the matter of a potential Wild Card Series rotation. Right now, Darvish has to earn his way into that group, with Dylan Cease and Joe Musgrove leading the way, followed by King. In an ideal world, the Padres would get peak Darvish down the stretch, which means King could serve as a bullpen reinforcement for the early rounds.

2. Questions (more good questions!) in the lineup

Tatis' return could give the Padres the lineup they've been waiting on all season. It also raises a few questions. Namely, where does Tatis slot back in? Would he bat second (where he batted all season before his injury) behind Luis Arraez? If so, does everyone else just … slide down a spot? Jurickson Profar hits third and Jake Cronenworth hits fourth? Doing so would relegate Manny Machado-Xander Bogaerts-Jackson Merrill -- three of the team's hottest hitters in August -- to 5-6-7.

With his offense rolling, manager Mike Shildt has been hesitant to shake up his lineup in the second half. Simply inserting Tatis somewhere near the top and dropping the rest feels like the likeliest solution. Which means it might look something like this (against righties, at least):

1. Arraez, DH
2. Tatis, RF
3. Profar, LF
4. Cronenworth, 1B
5. Machado, 3B
6. Bogaerts, 2B
7. Merrill, CF
8. Kim, SS
9. Higashioka, C

That spaces out the three lefties perfectly. Meanwhile, against lefties, maybe Cronenworth could sit in favor of Donovan Solano. In any case, as long as they can stay healthy, the Padres will have...

3. An elite bench

Again, we're still a ways away from Tatis' return. And Ha-Seong Kim's for that matter. But when they're back, the Padres’ September bench -- and potentially their postseason bench -- is a pretty flawless group.

They have Solano and David Peralta as pinch-hitting options from either side of the plate. Luis Campusano has formed a solid partnership with Kyle Higashioka at catcher -- and if the Padres were to start Solano against a lefty, Campusano would assume the mantle as the top righty bench bat.

Meanwhile, Tyler Wade and Bryce Johnson have been useful in their roles -- both as pinch-running options, Wade as a Swiss Army knife in the field and Johnson as a late-game defensive replacement in the outfield.

A season ago, the Padres' biggest roster-construction flaw was their depth. This year, it's one of their biggest strengths.