Brown leaves Clearwater, likely headed for surgery Tuesday

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Domonic Brown left the Phillies training complex today for a flight to Philadelphia, where he is expected to undergo surgery to repair a broken bone in his right hand on Tuesday.

Brown, who was injured during his first at-bat against the Pirates on Saturday, is scheduled to see hand specialist Dr. Randall Culp on Monday. A final decision on surgery will not be made until then, although Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. spoke on Sunday as if it were a formality.

Brown broke the hamate bone while hitting a foul ball against the Pirates. He later singled in the at-bat, his first hit of the spring after an 0-for-15 start, but left the game shortly thereafter.

The injury is a common one in baseball players and golfers. The hamate bone, on on the outer part of the hand, helps give the wrist its movement. Rockies short stop Troy Tulowitzki missed six weeks last June and July with the injury.

"We have a couple minor leaguers coming back from it," Amaro said. "The recovery, from what I'm told, is four-to-six weeks, where he'd be performing on the field within four to six weeks. But again, it depends on how quickly he recovers from it if he does have the surgery."

The injury essentially removes Brown, who had been competing with Ben Francisco and John Mayberry Jr. for playing time in right field, from contention for a spot on the Phillies' Opening Day roster. The top prospect had a rocky start to the spring, going 0-for-15 with nine strikeouts and three walks until his line drive single to center field on Saturday.

"He wasn't pressing, he just wasn't in a rhythm," Amaro said. "I talked to the kid, and he still felt very confident about things. He was just upset that he has the injury. Anybody would."

Brown was unavailable to speak to the media before leaving for Philadelphia.

"I haven't talked to him this morning, but I think overall he can't be particularly happy," Amaro said, "but we'll get it taken care of and go from there."

Although Amaro stopped short of declaring an end to the competition to replace Jayson Werth in right field, he did say the Phillies would not look to make a trade to bolster their depth at the position.

"Obviously, it takes somebody out of the mix, but like I said before, I think we have the talent here in this camp to be able to handle the position," Amaro said. "We'll kind of continue to evaluate as we go."

Francisco played regularly for the Indians in 2008 and 2009, hitting .262 with a .332 on base percentage, .442 slugging percentage and 30 home runs in those two seasons (he finished 2009 with the Phillies after being traded along with Cliff Lee).

The bulk of his playing time in his career has come in left field, where he has logged 150 starts. He has started 53 games in right.

Francisco has had a hot start to the spring, going 8-for-19 with two home runs, two doubles, a triple, six RBI, two walks and just two strikeouts in seven games.