Rolen suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right middle finger during fielding drills at spring training. His fingernail was also torn off. As a result, Rolen missed the beginning of the regular season, having surgery to insert a screw in his broken finger. Marco Scutaro was the Jays' third baseman in Rolen's place. On April 25, 2008, Rolen was activated from the 15-day disabled list. Two days later, against the Kansas City Royals, he hit his first home run as a Blue Jay.