Chris Sale had surgery on his broken left pinkie finger on Monday in Wellesley, with the Red Sox declining to announce a timetable for the potential return of their ace.

Sale, 33, had “an open reduction and internal fixation of a left fifth finger proximal phalanx fracture” performed by Dr. Matthew Leibman at the Newton-Wellesley Outpatient Surgery Center in Wellesley, the team announced Monday afternoon. That likely means the fracture was displaced, requiring the bone to first be realigned and then stabilized with hardware, such as a pin.

“The open reduction portion of it is making an incision and putting the bone back in the right alignment,” explained Dr. Christopher Geary, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine at Brockton Hospital. “And then the internal fixation is usually a couple of screws or plating screws. Sometimes players will get a pin [in the finger].”

It’s unlikely Sale will be able to return until late in the regular season, if at all.

“Best case scenario, probably like mid-September that he can get back out on the field,” Geary said. “That’s best case. That would be pushing the envelope as well.”

The incision will have to heal before Sale can start simulated throwing motions, core work, and arm work, Geary said.

“They probably won’t let him pick up a ball, or do any kind of field work or anything for at least four to six weeks,” he said.

Sale was just 24 pitches in to his second start of the season Sunday when New York’s Aaron Hicks lined a changeup back through the box. Despite reaching for it with his glove, it struck Sale in his pitching hand, carrying into right field. Sale, upon looking at his hand, immediately walked off the field, displaying his bent pinkie to manager Alex Cora.

Julian McWilliams can be reached at julian.mcwilliams@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @byJulianMack.

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