The San Diego Padres have shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. Friday, as expected, activated and placed him in second place in the series for their highly anticipated game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park.
Striker Tucupita Marcano was selected to the team’s alternative site to make room on the active roster.
Tatis has spent the past ten days on the injured list recovering from a subluxation in his left shoulder, which he sustained on April 5 while swinging violently on April 5. It was his third incident with the shoulder in 23 days, a problem Tatis has admittedly faced throughout his professional career.
Subluxations, which occur when the shoulder essentially slips out of position but does not dislocate completely, often lead to surgery. But there are also cases where players can manage the ailment for a long period of time. The Padres are hopeful that Tatis can fall within the latter group. But that may require some adjustments to his game, especially keeping both hands more often on the bat to avoid the wild swing and miss that could make his shoulder vulnerable again.
“The reality is you get out there and accelerate the game, adrenaline, all that stuff,” said Padres manager Jayce Tingler. “We’ve been trying for the last seven, the last ten days, to talk to the medical team about how we can best limit the risk. Look, these things are going to happen in the game. And just try to do the best we can to talk about what the danger points are, or the high risk levels.The last thing we want is here in a few days, a few weeks, a few months, there’s something happening again.We have a ‘Long year this year, and of course he has a long career ahead of him. We tried to cover these things with the full understanding that he’s going to get out there and be a ballplayer too.’
Tatis (22) batted in his first 143 games from 2019 to 2020 with .301 / .582 with 39 home runs, 27 stolen bases and eight tries, and he set 6.5 FanGraphs tips above the substitute. Before the start of the 2021 season, he had already reached major marketing deals with Gatorade and Adidas, graced the front page of MLB The Show and signed a $ 340 million extension of 14 years.
But Tatis, in his first four games in the regular season this year, has amassed just three hits in 16 innings, struck six times and made five errors. A few scouts who have been watching him closely believe that he is favoring the left shoulder, which has caused him trouble several times during spring training.
Tatis was in excruciating pain immediately after suffering the subluxation, but Padres general manager AJ Preller said Tatis felt much better shortly thereafter and was eager to return to the starting lineup the next day. Preller said Tatis’s MRI showed a slight labral tear that resembled a subluxation, but did not differ much from what he had shown on his previous body. after a short IL period.
Friday was the first day he was eligible again.