SAN DIEGO — Padres star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. exited Friday’s game against the Rockies after he appeared to re-injure his left shoulder while sliding into third base.
In the bottom of the first inning of an ugly 9-4 loss to Colorado, Tatis attempted to advance when Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon booted a ground ball. In an effort to avoid the tag, Tatis tried to slide away from the glove of Rockies shortstop Brendan Rodgers. Instead, he planted his left hand, then immediately grabbed for his left shoulder in obvious pain.
Manager Jayce Tingler said postgame Tatis sustained a left shoulder subluxation, a recurrence of the partial shoulder dislocation that he has sustained on three separate occasions already this year.
On a disheartening day all around, Tatis’ injury was the low point for San Diego. The Padres acquired outfielder Jake Marisnick in a trade with the Cubs earlier in the day, but they came up empty in their search for starting pitching at the Trade Deadline. In the meantime, their two primary division rivals, the Dodgers and Giants, pulled off a pair of blockbusters.
Instantly, the Padres’ thin rotation was put to the test, and Ryan Weathers endured his worst outing as a big leaguer, allowing eight runs over four innings.
As for Tatis, he missed a couple games in Spring Training with the injury, then landed on the IL for 10 days in April, before missing one further game in June.
The Padres, of course, can ill afford to lose Tatis, who is currently the clear frontrunner for National League MVP. He entered play Friday night hitting .290/.371/.650 with 31 homers and 23 steals.
As such, a hush fell over Petco Park when Tatis went to the ground in pain. He was on the ground for about a minute while he was evaluated by a team trainer. Eventually, he walked off the field under his own power and was replaced at shortstop by backup Ha-Seong Kim.
If there’s any room for optimism, it might be this: After a similar scene in April, when Tatis sustained a painful dislocation on a swing against the Giants, he landed on the IL as a precaution. But he was essentially fully healthy within a few days and returned after a minimum stint. The Padres can only cross their fingers and hope for a similar outcome this time around.
Still, a recurrence of the injury would be particularly troublesome. When Tatis sustained his injury in April, the Padres said they were confident he could do no further damage by playing through it while undergoing treatment. But if the injury were to recur, they said, the possibility of surgery would be revisited.
Shoulder surgery would end Tatis’ season — though he’s managed to avoid it thus far, and at the time of the April injury, general manager A.J. Preller noted, “There’s players that will get through the season and then, in the offseason, will get the surgery.” Perhaps that’s a viable path from here for Tatis.