Phillies Notes: Domonic Brown's right hand is injury central

The Phillies' Freddy Galvis (left) and Tyson Gillies greet their teammates during the Phil's 7-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers. (DAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer)

By Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: March 10, 2012

LAKELAND, Fla. - Something about Domonic Brown's right hand attracts injuries.

"I'm telling you," Brown said. "I do everything with it."

In the last two years, Brown has suffered four injuries to his right hand. The latest, a sprained right thumb, was deemed not serious after an MRI exam Thursday showed only inflammation. He says he expects to play next week.

Brown said he planned to take some swings in the cage Friday. Much of the inflammation and scar tissue is remnants of a similar injury he suffered last May at triple-A Lehigh Valley while diving for a ball.

The 24-year-old outfielder injured his thumb Monday while making an unnecessary dive prompted by a bad route he took to a fly ball.

"I don't think it's bothering me too much," Brown said. "If there wasn't stuff from last year, I probably would have been playing already. That's the setback right now. There's still some inflammation and scar tissue in there. I'll be fine."

Contreras throws

With catcher Brian Schneider in the batter's box, pitching coach Rich Dubee behind the mound, and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. behind the batting cage, Jose Contreras threw another round of live batting practice at Bright House Field.

"He looked real good," Amaro said, "and he came off the mound and felt really good about himself, so that's a good sign."

The next step for the 40-year-old righthander will be pitching in a Grapefruit League game, and Amaro said the veteran reliever was "getting close" to taking that step.

Amaro said that as long as Contreras does not have any setbacks, the reliever should be ready for the start of the season April 5 in Pittsburgh.

Three for Halladay

Roy Halladay recorded four strikeouts in his three innings during Friday's 7-5 win over Detroit. The four were on different pitches: a curveball, a change-up, a sinker, and a cutter.

"So one of everything, I guess," Halladay said.

Halladay also allowed two home runs, both to Eric Patterson. All four runs scored off Halladay in his first two appearances this spring have been via the long ball.

"I feel like, at times, everything is really good," he said. "I made some mechanical and consistency improvements over the last time. Consistency-wise, it was a lot better than last time. I wasn't completely missing every time. Last time out, I was missing by quite a bit."

Extra bases

Carlos Ruiz crushed a three-run home run in the sixth inning. He's 6 for 10 this spring. . . . Lefthanded reliever Jeremy Horst took a line drive off his rear end and left the game. Manager Charlie Manuel said he was fine. Horst, acquired for Wilson Valdez this winter, has not allowed a run in 22/3 innings.

Contact Matt Gelb at mgelb@phillynews.com or follow on Twitter @magelb.

Staff writer Bob Brookover contributed to this article.