Anthony Fenech

Detroit Free Press

Nick Castellanos’ breakout season has been put on hold because of a bad break.

The Detroit Tigers third baseman was hit by a pitch on the left hand in the bottom of the fourth inning of Saturday night’s win over the Mets and was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal, according to the team.

Castellanos is expected to miss “a minimum of four weeks,” according to manager Brad Ausmus. It is the first time he’s hit the 15-day disabled list in his four-year career.

“Certainly not good news for us,” Ausmus said. “The important thing is for him to get healthy. We’re looking really at some point in early September that we’d get him back.”

Castellanos stayed in the game after the hit-by-pitch from right-hander Logan Verrett and scored later in the inning on an Ian Kinsler single. He was replaced by Mike Aviles at third base the next half inning.

The Tigers called up veteran third baseman Casey McGehee from Triple-A Toledo to take Castellanos’ roster spot. McGehee is hitting .325 in 108 games with the Mud Hens and will step into a situation the Tigers envisioned when inking him to a minor league deal in spring training.

In addition to McGehee, utilitymen Aviles and Andrew Romine have extensive time at third base.

“We do have bodies that can fill the void and if they’re hot with the bat, we won’t miss Nick too much,” Ausmus said.

About partitioning playing time at third base, Ausmus said: “It’ll probably depend on who’s hot, who’s pitching. Some combination of that. Casey McGehee’s a guy who’s a proven big-league player. He’s played well at the big-league level at times. And he’s doing well down at Toledo, so I don’t really have any hesitation playing him.”

Ausmus said Castellanos’ left hand was swollen and bruised when he got back to the dugout. Through 104 games this, his age 24 season, Castellanos is hitting .286 with 18 home runs and 58 RBIs.

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According to a sports medicine doctor, the general recovery timetable for Castellanos’ injury is 6-8 weeks. The Tigers believe he will be back before then, but expect it probably will be longer than the four weeks they’re targeting.

With a number of power hitters up and down the order, the team is well-positioned offensively to absorb the type of blow that Castellanos’ injury deals them. Justin Upton will move up to sixth in the lineup in Castellanos’ absence.

“You just keep moving forward,” Ausmus said. “Looking through the windshield and not the rearview mirror. You’d rather have Nick on the field. He’s done a tremendous job for us. Unfortunately, injury’s part of any sport.”

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech. Download our Tigers Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!