masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgMinor league outfielder Matt Angle will undergo surgery this week to remove a broken hamate bone in his right hand.

Angle suffered the injury during his final at-bat of spring training, and I don’t mean because he no longer could play. It happened in the eighth inning of Friday’s game in Tampa. He wasn’t expected to make an appearance in yesterday’s finale in Sarasota.

Typical of this injury, it happened when Angle swung the bat and didn’t make contact. He wasn’t hit by a ball and he…Minor league outfielder Matt Angle will undergo surgery this week to remove a broken hamate bone in his right hand.

Angle suffered the injury during his final at-bat of spring training, and I don’t mean because he no longer could play. It happened in the eighth inning of Friday’s game in Tampa. He wasn’t expected to make an appearance in yesterday’s finale in Sarasota.

Typical of this injury, it happened when Angle swung the bat and didn’t make contact. He wasn’t hit by a ball and he didn’t jam his wrist while diving into a base.

I’ve seen it happen when a player tries to check his swing. It’s never a dramatic moment.

I seem to recall that broken hamate bones were all the rage a few years ago. Didn’t Jay Gibbons have one? So did another player whose name escapes me (Luis Matos?).

It must not be an important bone, since it isn’t repaired during surgery. Doctors just remove it.

You can read about it here. I’ll be giving a quiz later.

Angle was a spring invite after batting .289 in 123 games at Single-A Frederick and .357 in eight games at Double-A Bowie. He also played in the Arizona Fall League and was a teammate of Nationals pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg.

Angle, a seventh-round pick in 2007 out of Ohio State, is expected to rejoin the Baysox at some point this summer.

Reporters noticed that Angle was wearing a splint on his right hand and wrist yesterday, our first clue that he was injured. It’s hard to get anything past us – though that didn’t stop me from trying to shake his hand earlier today and having him reach out with his left one. Oops.

An MRI confirmed the break. He’ll probably have the surgery on Tuesday.