PHOENIX — Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke will need surgery to repair his broken collarbone and is expected to miss eight weeks.
Greinke was hurt Thursday night in a bench-clearing brawl with the Padres that started when San Diego slugger Carlos Quentin charged the mound after he was hit on the arm by a pitch.
The Dodgers said Greinke was examined Friday by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles and had a CT scan. ElAttrache and Dr. John Itamura operated on Saturday at White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles, placing a rod in the clavicle to stabilize and align the fracture.
Speaking to reporters before his team played Arizona on Friday night, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he wasn’t surprised by the extent of Greinke’s injury.
“We knew last night, for the most part, that it was going to be extended,” he said. “It’s unfortunate.”
Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner, signed a $147 million, six-year contract with the Dodgers during the offseason.
“Obviously, the attention that he got this winter and things that he’s done in his past tell you he’s hard to replace,” Mattingly said. “I guess we’re in a sense fortunate that we have a few extra starters this spring, and right now it’s a good thing.”
Ted Lilly and Chris Capuano are the candidates to take Greinke’s next scheduled start on Tuesday against the Padres in Los Angeles.
Lilly has been on the 15-day disabled list since March 28 and was slated to throw a bullpen session Friday. Capuano, now in the Dodgers’ bullpen, is a former starter.
Los Angeles placed Greinke on the 15-day disabled list and recalled right-handed reliever Shawn Tolleson from the minors to take the roster spot.
Mattingly, far calmer than he was in the heated aftermath of the fight, said he will wait to see the outcome of Lilly’s bullpen session before making a decision on a replacement for Greinke.
“We still have a few days to make a decision,” he said. “We don’t have to announce a starter. For another day, I can avoid you.”
Quentin was suspended eight games and Dodgers infielder Jerry Hairston Jr. one game by Major League Baseball on Friday night for their roles in the brawl.
“Unless it’s two months it’s not enough,” Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw said after he took the loss in Arizona’s 3-0 victory Friday night. “Donnie made a good point. I know it can’t happen, but I don’t understand why he (Quentin) should get to play and Zack doesn’t, for him acting the way he did. But I’m glad the league did eight. That’s probably more than some people were expecting, so it’s a step.”
Mattingly said Thursday night he thought Quentin should be out as long as Greinke is, but the Dodgers manager was quiet when reacting to the MLB punishment.
“That’s their stuff now, at this point,” he said.
After the teams had started heading back to their benches and bullpens, Hairston went running across the field yelling and pointing at someone in the Padres’ dugout and had to be restrained. That led to more pushing and shoving, and nearly a second melee.
Hairston claimed a Padres player — whom he wouldn’t name — was making fun of the fact that Greinke had been injured.
Quentin and Hairston both played Friday night, pending appeal by the players’ association. Both players were fined as well.
No discipline was announced for Greinke or Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, both ejected along with Quentin and Hairston.
Hairston had no comment on his penalty except to confirm he is appealing.
As for Quentin playing against the Dodgers next week in a series that begins Monday in Los Angeles, Hairston said the San Diego outfielder “has got every right to.”
“He’s got every right to appeal. That’s the process,” Hairston said. “I’m appealing it, too, you know. Maybe I should have served it today.”
Then he laughed.