San Diego Padres’ star stopper Fernando Tatis Jr. left Monday night’s home game against the San Francisco Giants (SF 3, SD 2) with what was later announced as a left shoulder injury. GM AJ Preller, on Tuesday, confirmed that Tatis has a ‘light’ tear in his labrum, but there is no damage to his rotation mantle and he does not need surgery.
“It’s just to be safe and to give the inflammation to the left shoulder and some of the instability a chance to calm down,” Preller told reporters, adding that Tatis has full range of motion. “… In general, the exam today was pretty inconvenient.”
Preller said the team’s doctors do not believe Tatis could aggravate the injury by playing, although the Padres will put him on the 10-day injured list “to be safe.”
Tatis went off with obvious pain in the third inning after swinging and missing a break ball from Anthony DeSclafani. He stayed for a few seconds while being watched by the team coach and then walked off the field while holding his left arm. He would not return and would briefly defend Ha-seong Kim for first place in the fourth innings.
Here is a look at the injury:
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, subluxation occurs “when the humerus rapidly partially slides in and out of place.” Subluxation can also cause damage to the shoulder capsule, ligaments and / or labrum. The extent of Tatis’ injury and his timeline for return are not yet known. There will probably be more known after he is further investigated on Tuesday.
Former Marlins president David Samson broke up the injury in the latest installment of Nothing Personal with David Samson. Listen below:
The injury is to the left of Tatis, his shoulder that was not thrown. As a right-handed hit, the injury to his forearm and the front shoulder is the power shoulder. It is not uncommon for injuries to the front shoulder to diminish a player’s strength, even after he is healthy. It may take a while to get full strength in that shoulder again.
Tatis does have a history of left shoulder problems, including a few weeks ago with an awkward training match. San Diego is obviously aware of the history, and they are comfortable enough with his long-term prospects to sign him for a $ 341 million 14-year contract last season.
The 22-year-old Tatis comes from a stellar 2020 campaign in which he finished fourth in the NL MVP poll. This season he starts slowly with a dash of .167 / .286 / .333 and one home race in five games. To state the obvious, the loss of Tatis at any significant time would be a serious blow to the Padres, who hope to compete with world champions Los Angeles Dodgers in the North West.