Ouch: MLB Player Leaves Game After Catch Attempt Goes Horribly Awry
San Diego Padres rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. left Sunday’s game against the Washington Nationals with an injury to his hamstring upon stretching to make a play at second.
But it’s not the injury to his hamstring that is painful to watch. Be warned, this play is wince-inducing:
In the bottom of the 10th inning with the scored tied at 6-6, the Nationals’ Victor Robles laid down a sacrifice bunt to move pinch-runner Wilmer Difo to second.
The bunt was not a great one, coming right back to Padres reliever Matt Wisler, who turned and fired to second to get the lead runner, but his throw was slightly off-line.
It caused shortstop Tatis to stretch for it — and oh, boy, did he stretch. Tatis went into a full split to try to get Difo, but Tatis’ foot came off the bag and the runner was safe.
All that for nothing.
Fernando Tatis Jr. leaves Padres-Nationals after doing a split he was definitely not prepared for: https://t.co/wrTqZqoTHs pic.twitter.com/aymfKOl5zN
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) April 28, 2019
Making matters worse, Tatis injured his hamstring on the play. He laid on the ground for a few minutes after the play, writhing in pain. He eventually left the game.
Fernando Tatís Jr. did the splits, strained his hamstring – Major League Baseball News – https://t.co/T1e2fi87CF pic.twitter.com/DcfbdDc39P
— MLB &NHL News Now (@MLB_News247) April 29, 2019
“We’re hoping he’s OK,” Padres manager Andy Green told MLB.com. “We’ll find out in time here. He seems in pretty good spirits right now. We’ll find out how severe or how mild it is pretty shortly.”
Andy Green said Fernando Tatis Jr. is in good spirits. Said it is a hamstring injury.
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) April 28, 2019
Manny Machado moved over to shortstop while Will Myers moved to third.
“It was an unfortunate situation,” Machado said, reported MLB.com.
“Obviously, when you see someone go down like that, you kind of think it’s pretty bad, but hopefully he’s all right and he’ll be healthy to continue doing what he’s been doing on this ballclub.”
Tatis, the son of former MLB star Fernando Tatis, has been a big part of the Padres’ early-season success.
The 20-year-old rookie is not only a defensive wizard, he’s good with the bat, too. He’s batting .300 with six home runs and 13 RBIs. Padres fans are obviously hoping it’s not serious.
Fernando Tatis Jr. made another great defensive play for #Padres tonight. He’s the most exciting thing at SS that the Padres have seen since… maybe ever. Here’s what he’s shown with the glove in the first 3 weeks of his MLB career. #BoyWonder pic.twitter.com/kRUQXAqeSG
— Troy Hirsch (@troyhirschfox5) April 12, 2019
The Nationals went on to win the game in the bottom of the 11th on a walk-off home run by Matt Adams.
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