Baseball hitters are on a quest for power. But that quest comes at a cost. NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe speaks to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas DiLiberti about baseball players suffering hamate injuries. AYESHA RASCOE, HOST: Major League Baseball’s opening day is this week. But this season, a number of players will be on the bench for the first game, out with an injury to a bone in their hand. It’s called a broken hamate, and the number of these injuries is spiking. A lot of this year’s bench players were injured during spring training. Joining us now to talk about the hamate and why it’s breaking in baseball is Dr. Thomas DiLiberti. He’s an orthopedic surgeon based in Dallas, Texas, and has treated dozens of players who’ve broken this bone. Thank you for being with us. THOMAS DILIBERTI: Yeah. Glad to be here. RASCOE: All right. I’m looking at my hand right now. Which bone is the hamate? DILIBERTI: It’s one of the bones that’s in the palm. So if you feel the side of your …