San Diego Padres star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. exited Saturday night's game against the Cincinnati Reds early with an injury to his left shoulder, the same one that gave him trouble in spring training and landed him on the injured list at the start of the regular season.
Tatis, the National League leader in home runs, hurt the shoulder while diving to his right on an eventual base hit to left field in the fifth inning. Tatis immediately grabbed the shoulder, then exited alongside one of the Padres' trainers.
After the game -- a 7-5 win over the Reds on the strength of an eighth-inning home run from Ha-Seong Kim, Tatis' replacement if he misses extended time -- Padres manager Jayce Tingler said Tatis "tweaked" the shoulder on the diving play but was petitioning to remain in the game. Tingler called his removal "precautionary," saying his range of motion and strength were "pretty good" and that Tatis would be "day-to-day."
"We feel like we're in a fairly decent position," Tingler said. "The trainers think it's nowhere near where it's been earlier on in the year."
Tatis wasn't in the lineup for the Padres' series finale against the Reds on Sunday, but Tingler said after the Padres' 3-2 win that Tatis would have hit if needed in the ninth inning and will be back Monday unless he has a setback.
Tatis suffered a subluxation -- when the shoulder essentially slips out of position but doesn't fully dislocate -- after a violent swing on April 5. It was his third reported incident in a 23-day span with that left shoulder, one he previously said has given him problems since he began playing professional baseball at the age of 16. But Tatis, now 22, missed only nine games after that incident, opting to manage the shoulder mostly with strengthening exercises as opposed to undergoing season-ending surgery.
Since then, Tatis has continued to put together a dynamic offensive season, with a .285/.364/.675 slash line, 22 home runs and 13 stolen bases in only 55 games. But the shoulder might be an issue once again.
"Talking to Taty after the game -- he's disappointed because he came out of the game and has a little bit of soreness," Tingler said, "but he's also optimistic that it doesn't feel anywhere near as bad as it has in the past."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.