MLB The Show 21 Cover Star Fernando Tatis Jr. Leaves Spring Training Game With Shoulder Discomfort

Fernando Tatis Jr., the cover star of MLB The Show 21, left the San Diego Padres' Spring Training game on Tuesday due to discomfort in his left shoulder.

Tatis throws with his right hand. He left the game against the Cincinnati Reds in the third inning following a play at shortstop. "Tatis moved to his right to field a ground ball by the Reds' Jonathan India and then made a throw to first to record the out. He then left the field with trainers," ESPN's report said.

The Padres will reevaluate Tatis on Wednesday, at which point we'll know more about his injury status.

Tatis is one of the best young players in all of baseball. The 22-year-old recently signed a 14-year, $340 million contract with the Padres that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the league. Tatis has faced some issues so far this Spring for the Padres. From the ESPN report:

"Other than that, it hasn't been a smooth spring for Tatis. He missed time with flu-like symptoms and then jarred himself after diving headfirst into home on a flyball to shallow left field in a game on March 13."

This is not the first time a cover star of a sports game has suffered an injury. The so-called "Madden Curse" is the term for when a cover of the Madden series goes down with an injury. It's happened so much that EA was developing a sports comedy about it.

I am no doctor, but shoulder discomfort doesn't sound like it would be a particularly devastating injury, if Tatis is injured at all. After all, Spring Training games do not really matter, so it makes sense that he would leave the game to focus on his health instead of trying to play through it.

The Padres open their regular season on April 1 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

As for MLB The Show 21, it launches on April 20 for PlayStation consoles, as well as Xbox for the first time in franchise history. Keep checking back with GameSpot for more on the game.