San Francisco Giants Ryan Vogelsong Fractures Right Hand

May 20, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher

(32) follows through on a pitch against the Washington Nationals in the second inning at AT

And Ryan Vogelsong‘s rough start to the season just became, well, awful.

The San Francisco Giants announced that Vogelsong suffered a fractured right hand tonight when he was hit by a pitch during a swing attempt.

There has been no official timetable yet as to a return, but hand fractures (especially for a pitcher in his throwing hand) are generally in the 6-8 week range, which is a devastating blow to the Giants’ rotation.

If there is any good news, it’s that Vogelsong will be able to return – hopefully by the All-Star break, assuming all goes well, but finding the silver lining right now is tough.

Vogelsong suffered the break during the bottom of the 5th inning when he swung around on a pitch that ran in and hit his right knuckle/hand. He wrapped his arm behind his back, clearly in pain and walked around behind home plate before the training staff and Bruce Bochy greeted him. Vogey removed his glove where the training staff quickly looked at the injury, wrapped his hand in a towel and whisked the Giants’ pitcher down the dugout tunnel where x-rays showed the break.

We’ll continue to update the progress of the story.

Expect a roster move in the very near future. One would assume Chad Gaudin will take Vogelsong’s rotation spot, at least for now.

Update: Nicole Vogelsong says Ryan is out for six weeks, minimum:

"Ryan has a dislocated joint in the pinky finger of his pitching hand. It’s broken above & below finger. Surgery tomorrow, out 6 weeks."