The Dodgers just beat the Padres for their sixth straight win and are currently sitting two games above five-hundred.  All should be well in Dodger land right? Wrong!  During batting practice prior to today’s game, Andre Ethier broke a small bone in the little finger of his right hand.  Ethier will return to Los Angeles on Sunday to meet with team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache and hand specialist Dr. Steve Shinn at the Kerlan-Jobe clinic. Dodgers trainer Stan Conte said no prognosis for Ethier will be available until after that examination.

Ethier said his finger got pinched against the knob of his bat while he was taking a swing.  “I was just in the cage hitting, taking regular swings,” Ethier said. “This is something I have done quite a few times before, but it’s usually a sprain or a bruise. This time, it finally gave way, I think. I swung three or four more times afterward, thinking it was just a sprain. But then I sat around for an hour, and it started throbbing a little bit.  “I thought at that point that it must be pretty bad this time. I went out and played catch, and it flared back up a little bit. So then I tried to hold a bat just to see what it felt like, and it didn’t feel right.”

There was no initial indication, from Dodgers trainer Stan Conte or anyone else, as to whether Ethier is likely to be placed on the disabled list. But each player holds the bat slightly differently, and Ethier seemed to indicate that this injury would prevent him from holding it the way he normally does.  “It’s a flexion thing,” he said. “I kind of position that pinky right above the knob, and it’s a leverage point in my swing.”

Ethier was off to a MVP start this season, batting .392 with 11 doubles, 11 homers and 38 RBIs. He also leads the majors with a .744 slugging percentage and is second in the N.L. with a .457 on-base percentage. He is hitting .490 (24 for 49) so far in May, with five home runs and 19 RBIs.

Check out the IPHONE app and you will see the major offensive stats for the National League with Ethier leading or tied for the lead in all of them.

Information from Tony Jackson of ESPN.com was used in this article.