San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner suffered a broken fifth metacarpal on the outside of his pitching hand after being hit by a line drive in Friday's spring training game against the Kansas City Royals in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Bumgarner said he'll have pins inserted Saturday to help the injury heal.
A source told ESPN's Buster Olney that the left-hander will be sidelined six to eight weeks.
"It's tough. But I can handle it," Bumgarner said. "These guys can handle it. This obviously was not what I was expecting out of my last start. But it happened, and I can deal with it."
Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, missed nearly three months last season after a dirt bike accident on April 20 during a day off in Colorado. This is a big blow for the Giants as they try to rebound from a surprising last-place finish in the NL West with 98 losses.
"It's just a downer. This was a short day. I feel for him," manager Bruce Bochy said. "Obviously, we know what he means to us, but where he was, how well he's thrown the ball all spring. Unfortunately, you've got to deal with these things. But this one certainly was a downer today because we were all getting ready to go to San Francisco, and now we've got to make some adjustments."
After six straight seasons with double-digit wins, more than 200 innings and 30-plus starts, Bumgarner went 4-9 with a 3.32 ERA in 17 starts last season and threw just 111 innings.
Bochy wasn't ready to say whether right-hander Johnny Cueto would move into the No. 1 spot and pitch Thursday's opener at the NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Jeff Samardzija has a strained pectoral muscle that will shut him down for three to four weeks, Bochy said Friday.
Making his final tuneup before his scheduled Opening Day start, Bumgarner was struck by a hard shot off the bat of the Royals' Whit Merrifield in the third inning.
Bochy went out to the mound with the team trainer to check on the left-hander, who was quickly removed from the game.
