The San Diego Padres announced on Monday that Fernando Tatis Jr. will miss up to three months due to a fractured wrist. There has been some speculation that the injury may be related to the motorcycle accident Tatis was involved in a few months ago, and the star shortstop had an interesting response when asked about that.
In December, Tatis got into what was described as a minor motorcycle accident in his native Dominican Republic. An initial report out of the country said he was taken to a local medical facility for treatment. However, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune was told Tatis suffered only minor scrapes.
Padres general manager A.J. Preller said Monday that Tatis suffered the wrist injury during the offseason, but he did not share any details. According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, some people who are close to the situation wonder if Tatis fractured his wrist in the motorcycle accident.
Fernando Tatis described his early December motorcycle accident as “minor scrapes,” but folks close to the situation wonder whether he suffered the wrist fracture then. When he felt pain hitting in a scrimmage a month ago doctors suggested the wrist injury did not look new.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 14, 2022
Tatis was asked about that by reporters. He said there were “a couple incidents” during the offseason that could have led to the injury. He also indicated he had multiple falls off his motorcycle.
So there were “a couple incidences” for Tatis this off-season where he got injured…and yup, when asked about the motorcycle accident he responds with “which one?” #Padres pic.twitter.com/YPjFMBHjl1
— Jim Russell (@JimRussellSD) March 14, 2022
“I had one more fall but it was nothing crazy,” Tatis said. “It was something like just small pain that goes away when you’re doing normal activities. When you kind of ramp it up and push it out there, that’s where it got me.”
Tatis was then asked when the accident was, and he replied, “Which one?” He smirked and said it happened “when the reporters were reporting it.”
Something doesn’t seem right. It’s also worth noting that Tatis’ father Fernando Tatis Sr. got very defensive about the original report that his son needed to be treated at a medical center. Unless Tatis was trying to hide something, why would his father care?
Whatever the case, Tatis probably should not be riding a motorcycle. The 23-year-old has dealt with numerous injuries during his career. He might want to play it as safe as possible going forward.
