Phillies rookie Domonic finally broke his hitless streak, but appears to have broken his hand as well and will likely need surgery. Matt Gelb reports that X-rays showed Brown fractured the “hook of the hamate bone” in his right hand. The injury typically requires surgery and will likely sideline Brown for 3-6 weeks.
This means that Ben Francisco is all but guaranteed to start the season in right field. Francisco has been having a huge spring so far hitting .476 with 2 HRs in 7 games so far. Even if Brown had not been injured, it would have been hard for Charlie Manuel to say that anyone but Francisco had earned the job.
Still, it’s a tough time for Brown and pretty cruel irony that his hand broken on the same swing that finally got him his first hit of the spring. It’s a long season though and from the early reports it doesn’t seem like Domonic Brown will miss too much of it. He should still certainly have a major part to play on this team as the season wears on.