Fernando Tatis Jr. makes decision on shoulder surgery

Tuesday marked a busy day for Fernando Tatis Jr. The San Diego Padres star apologized to his teammates for the positive PED test that will force him to miss the remainder of the 2022 season and part of 2023. While that suspension is being served, Tatis will undergo shoulder surgery.

That was reported by Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Tatis is expected to be ready for spring training, so the surgery won’t cost him any more games than he’s already missing while serving his suspension.

Surgery is “ASAP,” according to FTJ.
Six months to return to play means he can be ready to participate in spring training.
Then he will be off for a month or so but should be ready to play when eligible.

— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) August 23, 2022

While the injury that sidelined Tatis in 2022 was to his wrist, he’s dealt with numerous shoulder injuries in the past. The Padres had advocated for him to get the surgery but he always resisted.

The MLB world reacted to Tatis’ change of heart.

That's pretty massive. And a huge change from him. https://t.co/M9txcYyAks

— Ryan Phillips (@RumorsandRants) August 23, 2022

Might as well https://t.co/xDFUEYENhC

— David Droegemeier (@DrotalkSD) August 23, 2022

Fernando Tatis, Jr. wise to take full responsibility for his actions today but more importantly he's agreed to have his shoulder surgery now during suspension is great news for #Padres fans since surgery was inevitable and no point in putting it off &lose more time. down the road

— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) August 23, 2022

I said last week on @BenAndWoods that Fernando Tatis, Jr. deciding to get the shoulder surgery recommended by team doctors would be a great way to build back trust. He just announced he will do just that.

— Ben Higgins (@BenHigginsSD) August 23, 2022

If there’s one good thing to come out of this suspension, it’s that there’s no longer a reason to delay surgery. He’s going to be out of action anyway. Even if the surgery recovery goes longer than expected and spills into spring training, Tatis is going to miss roughly the first month of the 2023 regular season. So, he’ll still have time to get right before he can play in meaningful games again.

And indeed, getting the surgery he’d once resisted is a good step toward winning back the faith of his teammates. While they were pleased with his apology, they were also reportedly (and understandably) quite upset with him before. Since this is something the team always wanted, this should go a long way in affirming his commitment.

Things will invariably be somewhat awkward for Tatis and the Padres when he does return. But at the very least, going under the knife will do a lot to limit that.

[Kevin Acee on Twitter]