The Yomiuri Giants announced Friday that veteran outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi will have surgery on his right hand and will be out indefinitely.
The 39-year-old Takahashi, who has been superb off the bench for the Giants the past two seasons, dislocated the long flexor tendon that extends the middle finger on his right hand. He is currently batting .286 in 112 at-bats with six home runs and 29 RBIs.
He felt pain in the middle finger when he tried to check his swing during Sunday's game against the Chunichi Dragons. He was deactivated two days later. Although no timetable was set for his return, reliever Marc Kroon underwent surgery for the same injury in 2009 and was out for roughly a month.