This was the nightmare scene no Padres fan dared to imagine: Fernando Tatis Jr., the man with the $340 million contract, the scintillating and singular cornerstone of planned postseason runs, crumpled in front of home plate with a tortured grimace.
A violent swing through a third-inning pitch Monday in a game against the Giants at Petco Park ended with Tatis in a heap as hearts sprinted straight to stomachs.
The partially dislocated left shoulder, the same shoulder that caused him to walk off the field during a spring training game a couple weeks ago, has been a nuisance since rookie ball. The nagging nature of the injury likely indicates a labral tear that would require surgery, two orthopedic surgeons told the Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee.
That injury and the expected surgery do not threaten a career, but the potential is there to end Tatis’ season because of the six-month-or-so recovery period that follows. If he attempts to play through it, he could jeopardize the best-case scenario when surgery eventually does happen.
The bigger and growing issue with Tatis is the rough-and-tumble intersection of his full-throttle game and injuries — all different, 148 games in — that continue to dog him. In 2019, Tatis strained his hamstring doing the splits while covering second base. He later suffered a stress reaction in his lower back. The two collectively limited him to 84 games.
That came a year after a fractured thumb ended his final minor-league season.
It’s nearly impossible to change someone’s style of play, especially when it’s built on impulse and passion and split-second muscle memory. You can, however, stop sliding headfirst when playing with a bum shoulder. You can tap the brakes on high-speed hazards like the one Tatis ran himself into during the second game of the season, when a fly ball left fielder Jorge Mateo clearly could have handled ended with the two crashing in a tangled clump.
In two of his three seasons, Tatis has not escaped April unscathed.
A supremely gifted athlete does not want to consider limitations, especially when he or she is in their early 20s with a bulging resume and bank account. The big picture, though, is playing as close to 162 games as possible — rather than splicing another highlight or three onto the reel.
As opening day approached, Tatis was asked about whether he might tweak his decision-making and approach at times to safeguard his body.
“No,” Tatis said flatly. “I don’t feel like I need to modify nothing. You keep learning through the years. You keep learning about your body every single time. I think changing the way I play, I don’t think it’s a thing … you can say.”
Who knows how the wild slides, collisions and sprawling defensive plays chipped away at a fragile shoulder? Given that it’s been a thorn for so long, the injury was likely to force a decision at some point anyway.
A bit of self-applied bubble wrap can only help, though. Tatis admitted the goal was to stay on the field more.
“I’m more hungry than last year,” he said. “I just can’t wait to bring 162 to these people that have been waiting.”
This season was supposed to be the national launching pad for Tatis and the Padres. This was artfully built to be the season the franchise truly pushed and challenged the Dodgers. This was the beginning of, well, everything.
Now, it might be the end of the season for Tatis … five games in.
The uncomfortable truth: Tatis has not played anywhere close to a full season or the equivalent of one in his two-and-change. The Padres surely did their due diligence on the shoulder, though, given how long the injury has lingered and the Mount Helix-sized pile of cash they prepared to commit.
Manager Jayce Tingler indicated Sunday that Tatis’ slow start was due, in part, to pressing and trying to impress, given the dried ink on the longest deal in MLB history. He was hitting .167 with a .286 on-base percentage, seven strikeouts in 18 at-bats and an alarming five errors.
It was more than that, as everyone found out.
“Nothing crazy,” Tatis recently said, when asked about the severity of the shoulder injury. “I’ve been here before. Just regular (treatment) for my shoulder, for both of my shoulders. It’s nothing I feel like people should be worrying about or be concerned (about). I feel in a great spot and I feel 100 percent.”
Tatis acknowledged his dreadlocks-on-fire playing style has been a factor.
“Have you seen me play? Diving, swinging, a little bit of everything,” he said. “It’s part of the game.”
Older and far more experienced infield-mate Manny Machado has said Tatis will learn how to blend some on-field wisdom with his wide-open approach.
The math is simple. More games with Tatis is better than less.
Deep down, you hope Tatis understands that, too.
