Cole Hamels, one of the Phillies' top pitching prospects, will have surgery on his pitching hand February after an altercation in Clearwater, Fla., last weekend left him with a fracture of the fifth metacarpal.

Dr. Randall Culp, a hand specialist who examined Hamels at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia on Monday, will align the fracture with an intermedullary pin during the procedure.

Hamels, 21, is not expected to return to game action until May. Three weeks after the surgery, the pin will be removed. The left-hander will then face three weeks of recovery before he can begin light throwing.