Rays’ Franco to undergo surgery, out 5-8 weeks

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco will undergo surgery to repair a fractured hamate bone in his right hand on Tuesday and is expected to be sidelined for five to eight weeks.

Franco left the Rays’ loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday in the middle of the first inning with discomfort in his right hand and wrist after fouling off a 100.2 mph Hunter Greene pitch before striking out. Franco was evaluated Monday by Dr. Douglas Carlan.

Taylor Walls is expected to get the bulk of the playing time at shortstop in place of Franco, who is hitting .260 with five homers, 23 RBIs and a .704 OPS in 58 games this season.

Franco was placed on the 10-day injured list on Sunday.

The Rays (45-50), who currently occupy one of the three wild-card spots in the American League, have lost three straight games entering Monday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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