Less than two weeks ago, it appeared that Fernando Tatís Jr. had suffered a significant injury. Well, Tatís was diagnosed with a left shoulder subluxation that was determined to not require surgery, and he made his return to the San Diego Padres on Friday night for the first of many big games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. And it didn’t take long for Tatís to show that the shoulder may not be a problem.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Tatís crushed a Walker Buehler pitch 410 feet over the center field wall to give the Padres a 2-1 lead.
WELCOME BACK, EL NIÑO.#HazloGrande pic.twitter.com/KK3t0xJIRc
— MLB (@MLB) April 17, 2021
#HazloGrande, @tatis_jr. pic.twitter.com/h5VFmcMfkZ
— MLB (@MLB) April 17, 2021
So, that was good. What wasn’t as good was an error Tatís made in the next inning that resulted in two Dodgers runs scoring. Now, it was an incredible play by Tatís to even get to this ball (and the first run was scoring regardless), but his throw was in the dirt and ended up in right field, allowing Max Muncy to score all the way from first. This play is as much on San Diego second baseman Jake Cronenworth for not getting to the bag and at least knocking the ball down, but Tatís is charged with the error.
¯_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/iovYN7oN2e
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) April 17, 2021
And at the very least, the play served as more evidence that Tatís is comfortable enough to try making diving plays on that shoulder.
That'll go down as Tatis' 6th error. But Jake Cronenworth was very slow to the bag to cover.
It was a wild play, with a lot of moving parts, and the Dodgers now have a 4-2 lead. But perhaps most importantly, Tatis just laid out, extending that shoulder, and appears to be fine.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) April 17, 2021
Win or lose, the Padres have to be pretty thrilled about Tatís looks in his return.
