Fans appalled to see already-injured Fernando Tatis Jr. playing soccer (Video)

Already-injured Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to partake in reckless behavior

The San Diego Padres are going to have to put Fernando Tatis Jr. in some kind of hyperbaric protective sphere because apparently, he doesn’t learn from his mistakes.

On Sunday afternoon, a video made the rounds on Twitter of the young star playing soccer before the Padres’ evening game at Petco Park.

And he totally wiped out.

Thankfully, he landed on his right arm instead of the left, which is the one with the currently-healing, surgically-repaired wrist fracture.

Tatis showed up to spring training with the injury, and the Padres placed him on the 60-Day Injured List before Opening Day. His earliest return is the first week of June, at best.

As such, many baseball fans and media members were shocked to see that Tatis was allowed to be playing soccer, especially in light of how he supposedly injured himself. Countless tweets discussed his recklessness, as well as the organization’s apparent inability to get through to him about being careful.

However, some fans defended Tatis, saying that these activities are part of his personality, and he shouldn’t be tamped down, lest it dull his shine on the field.

There’s certainly an argument for allowing Tatis to be Tatis, to borrow a term from Manny Ramirez, as he’s one of the most fun, vibrant players in the game today. But that argument holds little water when the Padres star is already hurt. He’s supposed to be rehabbing an injury that’s sidelining him for three months, which significantly impacts the Padres’ chances of contending. Playing soccer (and wiping out) seems counterproductive.

At this point, the Padres can’t be happy with Tatis. He’s already admitted that he spent the offseason getting into multiple motorcycle accidents. In any non-lockout offseason, this would have been in breach of the Hazardous Activities Clause in his 14-year, $330 extension. The Yankees famously dropped now-manager Aaron Boone like a hot potato when he tore knee ligaments playing pickup basketball and replaced him with Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez.

Baseball players are human beings, and should absolutely be allowed to live their lives outside their profession. But Tatis signed one of the richest contracts in sports and then violated it, hurting himself and his team. Getting healthy should be his focus right now.

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