MILWAUKEE -- Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn began rehabbing his fractured left hamate bone on Tuesday, a day after he underwent surgery, and the hope is that he can return to action by mid-May, the club said.
Vaughn injured his hand when he was jammed during an at-bat in Milwaukee's 14-2 win over the White Sox, his former club, on Opening Day. The injury prompted the Brewers to call up top catching prospect Jeferson Quero, who debuted with a walk and a groundout in Sunday's 9-7 win over the White Sox.
Summoning Quero gives the team another right-handed hitter and provides flexibility to use veteran Gary Sánchez at first base when needed in place of Vaughn.
“I think it happened in my first at-bat,” said Vaughn, who took three more at-bats after he was injured, including in the sixth, when he knocked an RBI single. “I went home that night and felt kind of fine. My hand was a little sore. I woke up in the middle of the night and it was barking. It was like, ‘Something’s not right.’
“I definitely was [surprised]. Usually people say when it happens, right away it stings. I think it could have been the adrenaline of Opening Day. Then it hit me: Something is definitely wrong.”
Vaughn texted head athletic trainer Brad Epstein on the team’s off-day and went for tests, which revealed that Vaughn was the latest of a spate of prominent Major Leaguers to go down with fractured hamates. Over the course of three days in February, the Mets' Francisco Lindor, the Orioles' Jackson Holliday and the D-backs’ Corbin Carroll all suffered the same injury.
Lindor and Carroll were both playing Spring Training games at about the four-week mark. Holliday took longer, beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk on Friday at approximately the six-week mark.
“Unfortunately, it’s part of the game,” Vaughn said. “I’m just looking at the positives. Hopefully it’s a quick recovery.”
Vaughn’s injury was the second unexpected blow to the Brewers’ health in the first 48 hours or so of the regular season. They placed outfielder Jackson Chourio on the 10-day IL the morning of Opening Day with a fractured left hand, an injury originally suffered while playing for Venezuela ahead of the World Baseball Classic.
“That’s big. Vaughn and Chourio are two of the top five in the order, and they’re both right-handed hitters,” manager Pat Murphy said.