David Chao, MD
2 min read • August 13, 2022
Posted in
Padres superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who was on his way back from a left wrist fracture that cost him the first 114 games of the season, will not play baseball until mid-May after testing positive for Clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid.
The infielder will miss the rest of this season and will be inellegible for the playoffs if the Padres qualify. Tatis will also miss the entire 2023 spring training along with the first 32 games of next season.
While that absence is disappointing for the Padres, Tatis and baseball in general, it also presents an opportunity to enter the 2023 season completely healthy.
The Pro Baseball Docs believe this presents the best recovery window for Tatis to undergo surgery on the damaged labrum in his left shoulder.
As Dr. David Chao has detailed extensively, Tatis subluxed his left shoulder five separate times in 2021. The first instance happened on March 15, 2021 and he also subluxed the shoulder three times during the regular season.
Those instances cost him 30 games that season and he’s at risk to miss more games because of the shoulder until he gets labral repair surgery, according to the Pro Baseball Docs. He modified the follow through on his swing and finished the season, but that is not a long-term solution.
“There is nowhere else in the world I would rather be than on the field competing with my teammates,” Tatis said in his statement after testing positive for Clostebol.
With surgery, he can solidify his chances to remain on the field once eligible. The recovery time from surgery fits inside his current ban from baseball which is why the perfect timing for the needed surgery is now.
The two-time silver slugger already has 81 home runs and a career .292 batting average in 273 games over three seasons.
He missed 30 games last season with the shoulder, 114 games this season and now 80 games due to PEDs.
Tatis signed a 14-year, $340 million deal with the Padres in February 2021. Phenom right fielder Juan Soto, who the Padres acquired along with Josh Bell at the trade deadline, is under contract through 2025 and general manager A.J. Preller recently extended starter Joe Musgrove.
San Diego is clearly invested in winning right now and having a healthy Tatis to start next season is the best for all parties.
Written by David Chao, MD
Here’s a breakdown on #Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr.’s PED suspension, including what clostebol is and whether it helped his wrist heal The latest from our team of doctors: bit.ly/3bS68t2
