TATIS FALLS AFTER SWING, LEAVES GAME
Padres shortstop hurt after swing and miss in third inning vs. S.F.
• Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. leaves Monday night’s game against the Giants in the third inning with what appeared to be an injury to his left shoulder.
The Padres saw glimpses of the Adrian Morejon they believed was coming.
Unfortunately for them, what overshadowed anything else that could happen Monday night at Petco Park was they saw Fernando Tatis Jr. going.
Tatis exited the game against the San Francisco Giants in the third inning with a partially dislocated left shoulder.
The Giants hit three solo home runs — the final one a tiebreaking blast by Mike Yastrzemski in the seventh inning — to beat the Padres 3-2. It was not even close to the most painful loss of the night.
Dr. David Chao, an orthopedic surgeon who correctly identified the injury hours before the Padres announced a shoulder subluxation, said Tatis will likely require arthroscopic surgery for a labral tear. Chao, who served as the Chargers team doctor for almost 20 years, said it is
possible Tatis could continue to play and put off surgery if the tear was not made worse Monday. Surgery would end his season, as it generally requires a six-month recovery.
After a violent swing on a strikeout, Tatis immediately crumpled to the ground in front of the plate and stayed there for a full minute, on his knees with his head bowed almost to the dirt as he winced in pain.
The burgeoning superstar, who signed a 14-year, $340 million contract before spring training, was eventually
helped to his feet and walked off the field with manager Jayce Tingler and an athletic trainer holding his left arm in place.
“Right now he’s feeling better from, obviously, he was in quite a bit of pain coming out of the game,” Tingler said after the game. “I don’t have a lot of information except the fact they’re going to do more
tests and evaluation tomorrow and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
Tatis has dealt with the balky shoulder since he was in the minor leagues and twice this spring sat out for a period after hurting the shoulder. Sources have described what happens as the shoulder popping out and then back in when Tatis does certain movements. Chao said the reoccurrence of the injury in such a short period indicates it is becoming easier to dislocate and portends ongoing issues even if Tatis continues to play.
“It’s nothing I feel people should be worrying about or be concerned of,” Tatis said the day before the season opener. “I feel in a great spot and I feel 100 percent.”
Tatis was 0-for-2 Monday and is 3-for-18 this season. He was replaced at shortstop by rookie Ha-seong Kim.
If not for Tatis going down, the Padres could have relished Morejon’s performance a bit more.
The 22-year-old, who had never gone longer than three innings or thrown more than 46 pitches in a major league game, allowed homers to Darin Ruf in the second inning and Evan Longoria in the fourth.
Morejon, signed at 17 out of Cuba for a team-record signing bonus of $11 million, was lifted for a pinch-hitter with two on and two out in the bottom of the fourth. He threw 64 pitches, 18 more than he had thrown in any of his previous 14 career games.
The Padres tied the game twice on RBIs by catcher Victory Caratini.
Yastrzemski slammed a 2-0 sinker from Craig Stammen over the wall in center field for his fifth home run in 69 plate appearances against the Padres.