Padres star Fernando Tatís Jr. has elected to forego surgery on his left shoulder, reports Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. There’d been some speculation both inside and outside the organization he’d need to go under the knife this winter to correct the issue that plagued him a few times throughout the season, but that apparently won’t be the case. He’ll instead pursue non-surgical means of strengthening the area over the winter in an effort to stay healthy moving forward.
Tatís had two separate IL stints for shoulder issues this past season, missing the minimal ten days in April and another couple of weeks in August. In both instances, he suffered the injury on basic baseball activities — his first occurring on a swing, his second sliding into a base. Both injuries initially seemed to have the potential for extended absences, but Tatís returned in relatively short order each time.
When Tatís was healthy enough to play, he didn’t seem any worse for wear at the plate. Over 546 plate appearances, the 22-year-old hit a massive .282/.364/.611 with 42 home runs. By measure of wRC+, his offensive output was 56 percentage points above league average, a mark topped only by Bryce Harper, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Juan Soto among those with 500+ trips to the plate.
The shoulder problems did have a significant impact defensively, as the Padres slid Tatís off shortstop into the outfield for a good portion of the stretch run. The move was made primarily to reduce the potential that he’d reaggravate the injury, but Tatís mostly returned to shortstop for the season’s final three weeks. There’s no doubt about his position moving forward, as the All-Star has already gone on record about his adamance at staying at shortstop in 2022 and beyond.
As a Padres fan-just another thing to keep my fingers crossed about. Sheesh
As a Dodgers fan, but more importantly a baseball fan, he is a very special player.
I hope he gets stronger and his injuries are managed. He’s still so young. Always excited when we face him
As a Yankees fan, it’s certainly welcoming news that he won’t require surgery and will stay at SS for the foreseeable future.
As a Guardians fan, I hate myself.
As a Phillies fan, I hate everything, including the Phillies.
Well at least you have Rocket Raccoon.
As a White Sox fan, I hate James Shields.
It’s not that he doesn’t “require” surgery, it’s that he refused to get it. As far as staying at SS, he may need to do some growing up.
As a Braves fan, I am glad my team is leading the Dodgers 2-0 in the NLCS. I have to admit I didn’t see that coming. It feels good to admit that I am happily surprised. I wonder what it feels like to be one of those Cardinals fans that announced to the world they were certain the Cards were going to knock off the Dodgers and every other team even though it was obviously not going to happen. At least this way I am happy to be wrong so far. The Cardinals fans were not only wrong but they look stupid AND they are unhappy with the results. I don’t think anyone is going to call me stupid for assuming the Dodgers should be favored over the Braves. The idea that the Cardinals should have been favored over the Dodgers and every other team was patently stupid.
On a different point… I hope Tatis is doing this because the surgery will actually not help him. My guess is he’s still going to be great but this is probably a bad decision for his future. I don’t know if torn shoulder capsules can heal perfectly on their own but my guess is the surgery would have helped the overall end result. He is too young and too good to let the idea of “manning up” so he can start next season on time force him to deal with a potential nagging injury for an extended period of time. If it could have helped, I would have rather seen Tatis get the surgery and make sure his next MLB at bat was at 100% of what it could be. From what I’ve heard of Tatis’ personality it wouldn’t surprise me if he is just deciding to battle through it rather than miss the beginning of next season. I hope that’s not the case though. I’m not a Padres fan but I would hate to see one of our young MLB superstars not reach his absolute best potential because he refuses to go under the knife at such an early age. If he were 35 I would understand more. The time missed would eat up a much higher percentage of his remaining MLB days. This guy has a ton of years left in the league. If it would actually help I would have preferred he got it out of the way now so it wouldn’t be as big of a question moving forward. Haven’t the Padres done this before though? I think they pushed off Clevinger’s Tommy John surgery and actually pitched him until he tore the ligament more. I’ve heard some questions about that regarding Paddack and Limet, too. Make sure your players get as healthy as they can be before your in them on the field just to keep your job AJ. Building a great major league roster is a long game. Not a short one. This isn’t the NBA where you can be the worst team in the league like the Cleveland Cavaliers and then win it all the next season because of LeBron James. You need all of your players as healthy as possible for about a decade. Don’t ruin it for just one year. Hopefully that is not what’s happening here but I have my doubts.
BTW: Go Braves. The Dodgers can outspend us by over $120 million a year if they want. It just makes them look so much worse when they can’t beat us. Your money can’t buy heart and our team has way more than yours.
Yes, the Dodgers have so little heart they came back from 0-2 and 1-3 against the Braves last year, and came back from the brink of elimination against the Giants just last week. Let’s just say the Braves have done very well for themselves up to now, and they may very well win this series. But cut the nonsense about heart.
I’m not a dodger fan but well said!
It’s a 7 game series Braves fans
The Dodgers DON’T have heart. Scherzer and Turner are rentals who could care less about which team they are on. Betts stopped playing like an MVP once he got his paycheck because he never cared. He’s just a mercenary that wanted the biggest contract he could get just like Lindor. Somehow Cody Bellinger must have literally gone to a surgeon and had his heart removed because he certainly doesn’t have one anymore. Even Buehler won’t sign an extension because his only goal is to get the top dollar on his free agent contract regardless of which team he ends up playing for. The Dodgers don’t come to work everyday trying to figure out how they can help their teammates. They come to work trying to figure out how they can pad their own personal stats so they can make as much money as possible. They’re mostly just a bunch of mercenaries wearing the same uniform. Dodgers fans don’t root for a team. They root for laundry. The mercenaries wearing the laundry couldn’t care less about the fans or the city. All they care about is how big that paycheck is going to be when it hits their bank account.
Ah. Now I see what I’m dealing with here. So your entire outfield was playing on different teams at the start of the season, but I’m the one rooting for laundry. Enjoy your ability to tap into the very soul of other human beings. Carry on.
@The Mets “Missed WAR”…
1. So Scherzer and Turner do care about which team they are on?
2. Turner isn’t a rental. He has one more year of arb.
A player under contract for less than a season and a half is a rental.
As a Mets fan, I do not even need to finish this sentence
Don’t believe everything you think, Mets guy.
Turner is not a rental. Has contract for next year ⚾️
Now you’re defining “rental” to support your argument? Lame.
you probably are for vax mandates too? MANDATE SURGERIES
I am Groot…
Hopefully this is the right move to get him healthy. Say what you want about all the posing and that swag chain business, but the game is more exciting when he’s on the field, hitting bombs and making plays at SS.
The game is less exciting having Tatis stand in the outfield because of his shoulder issues. Hope his shoulder gets healed with rest this offseason.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen with shoulder subluxation. It doesn’t heal and get stronger. It eventually requires surgery. All the doctors that have spoken about it have been crystal clear in that regard. He will have to have the surgery eventually. It doesn’t matter what kind of strengthening exercises he does.
I think I heard that months ago, too. Why the heck is he doing this then? How long is the recovery time from the surgery? He should have just gotten the surgery as soon as the Padres were eliminated. I know he has been great since the injury but is he really planning on playing through the injury for the rest of his career just so he doesn’t miss a few games at the beginning of the season? My guess is he spends more time on the IL next season from soreness than he would if he just got the surgery now. This is crazy to me. This guys career could last another 15 years. I can’t believe the Padres haven’t talked him into getting the surgery yet. The sad thing is my guess is Preller doesn’t want him to start the season late and skipping the clearly necessary surgery was probably his idea.
3-4 months recovery. Can be longer if complications. At least that is what the “docs” on MLB Network said.
@The Mets “Missed WAR” If he gets the surgery tomorrow and assuming a normal recovery time he will miss no games at the beginning of 2022.
“the game is more exciting when he’s on the field”
That is just an opinion. I’d be okay if he never played another game.
Cool observation hiflew. We’ve established that people share opinions on these boards, and they don’t always align.
That’s fine. I have no problem with other peoples’ opinions as long as things are not stated as fact . The words “I think” or “I believe” or “in my opinion” are very useful when stating an opinion.
Gotcha. Thanks for not being too douchey about this.
It’s almost like having cancer (no laughing matter), you keep ignoring it & it can ruin you. The same injury over & over go to the AL DH? This will affect his hitting
I can see why some people think that he is about himself more than the team and that he got his big payday a little early, but I think that 90 percent of fans think Tatis is fun to watch and would gladly add him to their favorite team. Besides Padres will not win for a while, let them have something fun to watch, sort of like the Angels fans get Trout and Ohtani but no postseason.
I’m not a Padres fan but I think they could win as soon as next year with the team they have. They will need a solid manager to counter the mistakes Preller makes. The manager will also have to be involved in decisions with the players to make sure they are healthy. I also love watching Tatis and have no issue with his personality whatsoever. He wants to win. What’s wrong with that. The decision to skip this surgery is really the only issue I’ve questioned when it comes to him. To me this plan reeks of influence by AJ Preller. He seems like he is sacrificing future wins to get as many as possible right now so he looks good and doesn’t lose his job. I think that regardless of the extension Preller knows if he misses the playoffs next season he is on the hot seat. This team is too talented to waste on a GM who doesn’t know how to run the major league team. Preller should just be in charge of building the farm system in my opinion. Leave the day to day operations to someone who does a better job of keeping players healthy and knows better than to overpay someone like Eric Hosmer. Imagine how good this team could be if they spent all that money they wasted on guys like Hosmer, Clevinger, Profar and Kim on players that actually performed like they were paid to.
You understand that pitching is part of the game, right? You can’t win without it.
Avoiding surgery is a goal, but this shoulder has been a constant issue at a young age. Seems like he’s trying to avoid the inevitable.
It was only a constant issue because he refused to rest it. If he can not do anything strenuous, partial tears can heal on their own.
It’s tough to judge without knowing his exact situation… I had a partial rotator cuff tear that I managed well w rest and PT and has never presented issues again.., but when I tore my pectoral tendon off the bone, surgery was absolutely necessary and after the healing and PT and an additional three months of normal movement, it’s been fine too
The rotator cuff is muscle, not cartilage or tendon.
It’s cartilage. Look up how, if, and how long it can take for catilage to heal. If ever.
Wrong. Its muscles and tendons.
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rotator-cuff-in…
You’re correct. It’s not cartilage. The rotator cuff is MOSTLY muscle, attached with tendons.
Unfortunately, tears can’t. Once there is a tear, surgery is inevitable. Its only how long you can live with the pain.
If the shoulder puts him back on the IL they need to withhold his pay for every day he spends on the IL because of it
You assume this wasn’t a mutual decision between him and the team. Like Tatis Jr is defying the team doctors and doing his own thing. What a dumb take.
Last I checked more than one doctor recommended he get the surgery.
And I see this roughly analogous to if Gerrit Cole had sustained a complete UCL tear in his first year as a Yankee and then simply refused to get TJ.
Regardless of what that doctor or any doctor said, the shoulder was a known problem before they gave him that extension and dude is only 22 years old. So if they didn’t put some kind of safeguard in place then things in the Padres front office are worse than I might have feared.
So, you backtrack because you know you are full of it.
No. You are wrong again. He injured his shoulder at the end spring training, and signed the contract about a month before that. He had no prior shoulder injury history.
Just stop talking, dude.
@Steve Nebraska Ad hominem attacks like that are the calling card of someone who knows that they are losing an argument. So is it reasonable to conclude that you admit that you are wrong?
No, I throw in ad homs to spice up my superior argument.
But you keep doing the whole “you used logical fallacy! I’m smart. He wrong. Derp derp derp.” It definitely makes you seem intelligent because if you actually understood the ad hom fallacy you would realize that it doesn’t apply to what I did. If I had just said your argument is wrong because you are an idiot, then you would have a point. I didn’t do that. I gave you an actual retort and then at the end decided to take a jab for funsies. That in no way removes the critique I made of your comments. You decided to only engage with that because you aren’t capable of engage with anything else.
Wow, the funny thing is you’re actually the one that’s wrong. Both Preller and Tatis have been quoted as saying that he has had shoulder issues since he was a teenager in the minors. Just stop talking, dude.
Can you provide a source for that? I haven’t read anything of the sort. I will renounce everything I have said and delete my account if you can.
From The Athletic on April 6: “Tingler revealed after the exhibition that the same shoulder had occasionally given Tatis trouble for years. Tatis would later say he first encountered shoulder trouble in rookie ball, which he played in 2016.
In recent days, Tatis and the team had downplayed the severity of his recurring shoulder problems. The Padres were aware of those issues in February, when they signed him to a 14-year, $340 million extension.”
Delete your account.
No direct quotes:
sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/padres/story/2021-…
@Deleted User, This was a Scott Nebraska post, & it mysteriously turned into a “Deleted User” account. What the hell? Is MLBTR hooked up to Steve Nebraska? Why was his post turned into “Delete User” Something stinks here
tsats – if your looking at this, check this out. Something is seriously wrong here.
@Deleted User Never since the dawn of time has someone with a superior argument felt the need to tell their counterpart that they have a “superior argument.”
He was either banned or deleted his account. No mystery here.
“The Padres revealed in spring training that Tatis has had the shoulder instability since he was in the minor leagues.”
sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/padres/story/2021-….
Douchey but he was right.
@Deleted …
Wrong. He has a history of problems with that shoulder, including the end of his last season in the minors in 2018.
@Deleted …
So, since YOU haven’t read about it, everybody is lying to you?
It was not a “mutual decision.” A team can’t force a player to have ANY medical procedure.
You’re dreaming. Dumb comment.
Just trying to live up to you
I look forward to these comments. I get all of my medical advice from the MLBTR comments section. You just wouldn’t believe how many doctors use this site!
Leave the snark to those of us who are good at it buddy.
@Monkey’s Uncle …
Maybe if you actually did some reading and research, you wouldn’t think everybody else is so much smarter?
There are plenty of Doctors on your site as doctors enjoy baseball too you know…
I hope they get rid of the swag chain, and some of the kids stuff. They need to grow up and respect the game. I’m a long time Padres fan, and like the way Machado and Tatis play the game, but don’t like the bush league actions.
You must be fun at parties
Quick! What was the Padres’ record both before and after the introduction of the swag chain!?
They were 29-17 before it was first seen on May 23rd. Over their next 46 games they went 24-22.
I thought they had it on Opening Day? Machado designed, bought and paid for it in the off-season.
Why do people still think this is clever? It’s very ironic to see someone use tired, unoriginal “quips” to accuse others of being unenjoyable to be around.
Sorry if they made the game too exciting for you.
Non sense! Just about every team in the league adopted a chain or a sports coat or a hat or something….Give them a break!
The Red Sox use a wheelbarrow.
Big mistake, and he’ll end up having the surgery next year and missing a significant chunk of time. Annoying how they never time these things to try and maximize the calendar, but will delay until February trying other things before giving in.
I couldn’t agree more. If they are prescribing PT to strengthen the other muscles, it means he has a small tear in his labrum or one of his rotator cuff muscles. Even with a stronger shoulder, those shoulder tears do not heal on their own; they tend to only get worse especially when your profession requires extensive use of the shoulder.
He absolutely should address this issue now with surgery. A small tear that doesn’t require any shoulder anchors to repair only takes 3-4 months to fully recover from. If he leaves it as is, one more bad slide, bad throw or even a swing and a miss could tear the muscle to the point where it becomes untenable to play with and it will require the a much larger surgical procedure to fix. IMO, this is a bad decision. It reminds me of Michael Thomas with the Saints and his refusal to get ankle surgery in the offseason due to bad medical advice.
Love Tatis, but he has shown a lot of signs of being an arrogant Prima Dona. I hope they get that fixed, too.
Be careful talking about Tatis like that or the Preller fanboys will cart you off to the guillotine
@SDHotDawg That comes in time with maturity. See Machado.
Hopefully he takes up Harper’s old mantle in that regard so people can actually stop and realize how much Bryce has changed.
Another $330M shot to hell! Ahahahahaha!
I’m not saying surgery is the solution for every problem but a shortstop with shoulder issues is a big red flag. Injured while swinging a bat then stealing a bag? This kid not playing is bad for baseball. Like Acuna on my team it’s amazing how talented they are and how they play at another level. Hope he is making the right choice.
Lemet isn’t going to have surgery either. More PRP’s so he can be available for another 38 innings next year!
He’s doomed. This will not stop bothering him and it will lead to missed games.
Machado yelled at him about his selfish attitude for the whole world to see. His refusal to get preemptive surgery is all part of it.
The swag chain is bush. Cheap thrills. No class.
I am guessing that you do not even like Flavor Flav.
It’ll dislocate again, eventually.
Hard to predict injuries when handing out long term contracts. You do your do diligence with your medical staff and roll the dice. You can bet your last dollar before the contract came out of the printer, every joint in Tatis body was examined with a fine tooth comb. These contracts are insured, and the only way to get insurance on these types of contracts is to have the thorough exams.
not smart…not a smart move. Shoulder injuries, dont get better without surgery. He REALLY is human…he’s not “Superman”. And he had more than enough time to have the surgery, and get back on the field BEFORE the season starts.
As an Orthopedic Surgeon who has done a fellowship in Sports Medicine this is a HUGE MISTAKE. Can only assume this is a personal decision against medical advice. His chance of a full recovery by the start of next season is near 100% with surgery.
This is about as big of a no-brainer are having surgery for a torn ACL. Sorry….
I am also doctor. A proctologist. Lotta a-holes on these boards. BTW….not implying you are doc. Just some other a-holes.
Have you seen his charts?
You don’t need a “chart” to know the effects of a dislocated shoulder, even if its partial.
Adamance. Indeed.
Is it just me or does that seem more than a little selfish knowing that he cannot avoid injuring it again without getting surgery. Time on the DL a couple of times a season is inevitable until he fixes it surgically. I don’t think that is the type of team leader the Padres were looking for when they gave him 14/340.
It is selfish. I don’t care how good he is, or how good he can be, the kid needs to grow up.
Pads Fans/Koamalu/websoulsurfer is correct in this instance
Understandable if teammate’s Lamet’s post-sx return as a shell of himself had Tatis figuring “not me”.
Still, I blamed him for selfishness, immaturity and mostly falling victim to Denial, but not after hearing that his assigned surgeon was Dr. Nick Riviera.
STUPID AND SELFISH MOVE BY TATIS JR
Padres should demand that he get surgery and fix his shoulder.
Padres are paying Tatis Jr over 30M per year for 10 years.
Tatis Jr, is a big part of their team and offense.
We have seen this BS before with other players who try to heal a serous injury by skipping surgery. Most of the time, it does not work.
If Tatis skips surgery, he will play the 1st 3 months of next year, the injury will get worse
and force Tatis to have surgery halfway through next year and Tatis Jr
will miss the bulk of the ’22 playing season because he is either selfish or not smart enough to make the right decision.
Can the Padres void Tatis’s salary next year for his stupid, selfish move here?!
The Padres are basically FLUSHING THE ’22 SEASON DOWN THE TOILET IF TATIS DOES NOT GET THAT SHOULDER REPAIRED NOW!!!
Lamet is doing the same thing, and he just cost the team a year of his service.
It seems like the Padres are getting exactly what they paid for. They knew about the shoulder, they knew Tatis’ general attitude, and they offered the contract anyway. They wanted to make a big splash by offering huge money to a very young, popular player. His exuberance is part of what makes him appealing, but petulance is to be expected from a young guy that puts his emotions on display at all times. However, this doesn’t have to be doomsday for the Pads. Ozzie Smith tore his rotator cuff in like 1986 and didn’t have surgery until 1995. He played some pretty good SS in between. Hopefully Tatis can manage the injury in a similar fashion.
On a side note, Pete Kozma should be available if Tatis does in fact re-injure the shoulder. So the Padres do have options.
Rotator cuff? You’re comparing apples and oranges.
Would any surgeons or even a PT like to chime in? Oh wait everyone that commented is one
Stop that. You’re not good at it.
As a Globo Gym Purple Cobras fan, I really hope that this is the last of this injury for him.
According to press reports, Tatis dislocated his shoulder 4X in ’21?!
And he expects to heal it with a few exercises?!
And, Preller and the Padres are letting Tatis Jr make the call on surgery?!
Why pay Tatis 300M+ to let him elect to be injured, play out of position next year and then ultimately require surgery during the ’22 Season requiring him to miss the ’22 season?!
The Padres Front office (AJ Preller) IS A TRAIN WRECK!!
He needs to get this taken care of now.If not this will be an ongoing problem.So he makes 30mil a year and is going to dictate to the team that he is electing not to have surgery which I guarantee he will need early next season after falling or crashing into the outfield wall.Preller is a joke and Tatis is a total A–.Padres finish in third place again if not lower and Tatis misses most of 2022 season