Usachi
Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit in the left elbow by a pitch from Brewers starter Collin Rea in the bottom of the third inning on Friday night. Below is video of the pitch and Tatis’ reaction, and he appeared to be in great pain.
Tatis stayed in the game to run the bases and took the field the next inning, but Tyler Wade came in to pinch hit when it was his turn to bat.
The Padres announced that Tatis left the game with a “left triceps contusion.” In layman’s terms, that means a bruised muscle on the back of the upper left arm. If that’s really all there is to it, that’s great news for Tatis and the Padres. The concern here was that there was something wrong with the bone in his elbow.
An in-game announcement is typically followed by a series of tests, including X-rays and CT scans of the injury, so there is a chance we could hear more bad news on Saturday, but there is still room for cautious optimism at the moment.
Tatis is incredibly talented, but has missed significant time with injuries so far in the early stages of his career, with injuries to his hamstring, back, shoulder (several times), obliques and wrist.
Through 80 games this season, Tatis has managed to stay healthy and play in every game while batting .279/.354/.468 with 14 doubles, 1 triple, 14 home runs, 36 RBI, 50 runs scored and 8 stolen bases.
The Padres have had an inconsistent season but entered the game holding onto the No. 3 wild card spot in the National League, and losing Tatis for an extended period of time would be extremely tough, so the Padres and their fans can only hope that the news doesn’t turn out to be worse than a bruised triceps.
