The San Diego Padres activated shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. on Friday, as expected, putting him in second place on the lineup for their highly anticipated game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park.
Infielder Tucupita Marcano was given an option to the team’s alternate site to make way on the active roster.
Tatis had been on the injured list for the past 10 days to recover from a subluxation in his left shoulder sustained in a violent swing on April 5. It was his third reported incident with that shoulder in the space of 23 days, a problem Tatis has dealt with throughout his professional career.
Subluxations, which occur when the shoulder essentially slips out of position in the socket but is not completely dislocated, often lead to surgery. But there are also cases where players can treat the condition for a long time. The Padres hope that Tatis can fall within the latter group. But that might require some tweaks to his game, notably keeping both hands on the bat more often to avoid the wild swings and misses that could make his shoulder vulnerable again.
“The reality is you go out and speed up the game, adrenaline, all that stuff,” said Padres manager Jayce Tingler. “We’ve been trying to use the last seven, the last 10 days to talk to the medical team about how best to minimize the risk. See, these things are going to happen in the game. And so we’re just trying to do the best. what we can to talk about some of the dangerous points or the high levels of risk The last thing we want is here in a few days, a few weeks, a few months, is for something to happen again We have a long year this year, and he clearly has a long career ahead of us. We’ve tried to discuss those things with the full realization that he will go out and become a ball player too.
Tatis, 22, hit .301 / .374 / .582 with 39 home runs, 27 stolen bases and eight triples in his first 143 games from 2019 to 2020, racking up 6.5 FanGraphs wins over replacement. Before the 2021 season started, he had already signed major marketing deals with Gatorade and Adidas, graced the cover of MLB The Show, and signed a 14-year extension of $ 340 million.
But Tatis collected only three hits in 16 at-bats in his first four games in the regular season this year, striking out six batters and making five errors. A few scouts who kept a close eye on him believed he preferred that left shoulder, which caused him problems a few times during spring training.
Tatis had noticeable pain immediately after going through the subluxation, but Padres general manager AJ Preller said Tatis felt much better soon after and was eager to return to the starting line-up the next day. Tatis’s MRI, Preller said, showed a slight labral tear consistent with a subluxation, but not much different from what appeared on his previous physical body, adding that Tatis had regained full range of motion and that he would try the treat injury after a short IL period.
Friday was the first day he was eligible to return.