Padre’s superstar short stop Fernando Tatis Jr. left their game Monday against the Giants with an apparent injury to their left elbow, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com was among those to sign up. Tatis bats in an innings against the Giants’ right hand Anthony DeSclafani and then went down ‘crumpled on a heap’, according to Cassavell. Alex Pavlovic from NBC Sports Bay Area video provided on Twitter.
A serious injury for Tatis will not only be a huge loss for the Padres, who have the World Series hope, but also the game of baseball as a whole. The 22-year-old was one of the most promising in the sport before reaching the majors, and he has so far maintained the status in the largest country. Tatis has made a .298 / .372 / .577 (148 wRC +) track since his debut in 2019 with 40 home runs, 27 stolen bases and 6.5 fWAR in just 147 games and 648 board appearances. He is one of the main reasons why Padres on paper looks like an elite team, not to mention even one of the greatest talents of baseball.
Tatis was so productive during his short career that the Padres signed him for a jaw-dropping 14-year, $ 340MM extension by the end of February. The Padres did it, of course, with the confidence that Tatis would stay healthy, but now they can handle a disastrous scenario, just a few games into his contract.