Socrates Brito suffered the injury during this afternoon’s game against Team Mexico at Salt River Fields, sliding headfirst into home-plate. He was obviously in some discomfort at the time, but the nature of the damage was not clear until some point later, when the team announced he had dislocated the ring finger on his left hand. Initially, there was no word on whether or not this would require an operation, but tonight, the team announced:
D-backs outfielder Sócrates Brito had successful surgery to repair an open dislocation of the fourth finger on his left hand performed by Dr. Sheridan and his timetable for recovery is to be determined, as announced by Executive Vice President & General Manager Mike Hazen. Manager Torey Lovullo will address Brito’s surgery tomorrow during his pregame media session at Camelback Ranch in Glendale.
Despite a disappointing 2016 campaign, where he hit only .179 over 40 games for the Diamondbacks, Brito was in the mix for the fourth outfield spot, and probably represented the best defensive option. The news of his injury thus likely improves the chances for Jeremy Hazelbaker, the only other regular outfielder on the 40-man roster, or one of the non-roster invitees, such as Gregor Blanco or Oswaldo Arcia. As Nick Piecoro mentioned, it’s been an unfortunate run for Brito, who broke his toe in June 2016 after fouling a ball off it, then broke a bone in his hand just last November, while getting ready for winter ball, an injury that also required surgery.