MESA, Ariz. – First baseman Dominic Smith was ramping up for spring training while still going through free agency last month. In his first live batting practice, he took a swing and then couldn't grip the bat anymore.
An MRI showed a displacement of the hamate bone in his right hand.
“At that point, I had to get the surgery,” Smith said in a conversation with the Sun-Times. “Or else I could wait and let it heal, but the recovery process would be the same length and I would still have a chance of breaking it again.