The news is everywhere. It sucks.

His injury (the hook of the hamate bone in his hand) isn’t all that uncommon. The team is leaning toward surgery, which is smart, because if you don’t have it repaired surgically, there is a chance for tendon and ligament damage down the road if it heals improperly. I think. Anyway, this puts an end to his spring training, and more consequently, it will impact his entire 2011 season. With his hand immobilized, it will take him time to re-gain 100% of his power, and then of course he’ll need to get his timing and rhythm back.

The one bright spot is, he will now be able to go back to AAA and rehab the injury and get himself back into a groove and he can stop pressing and worrying about making the team out of spring training. I wish him the best and a speedy recovery.

Edit –> I should have noted (but typed this quickly to get something up) that recovery time can range anywhere from 3 weeks to months. Some guys come back right away and they are fine. Some guys have more residual soreness that takes longer to shake off. Hand injuries are typically a blow to a player’s power, for obvious reasons. His recovery time frame has a wide range of outcomes. Softened up my original post. Lets hope for the best.