Josh Hamilton suffered thumb injury on head-first dive into first (GIF)

Josh Hamilton will likely be out 6-8 weeks after suffering a thumb injury that could require surgery, the team said on Wednesday.

Hamilton was trying to beat out a ground ball to short in the 7th inning of the Angels’ loss to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday and went into first with a head-first dive. Hamilton’s left hand went into the base, and he ended up tearing a ligament and capsule in his hand.

Commentator Mark Gubicza nailed it immediately, saying that he was concerned about Hamilton diving into the base because the outfielder could hurt his thumb that way just like Yasiel Puig did. That’s exactly what happened, but, unfortunately for the Angels, Hamilton’s injury was much more serious than Puig’s.

Though you think the injury would teach Hamilton not to dive head-first into first again, he says it’s an instinctual move and that he can’t guarantee he won’t do it again.

“Sometimes your instincts more than anything take over; the fun of the game,” Hamilton said via MLB.com. “I thought maybe when he was fielding the ball he had to go a little farther than he did, but he didn’t. I shouldn’t have done it, probably, but I’m not going to say I’m not going to do it again because I’d be lying.”

This is really a bummer because Hamilton was having such a great start to the season. Hamilton was 12-27 (.444) with two doubles, two home runs and six walks and was on his way to turning around a disappointing start to his Angels career.

GIF via @nick_pants