Anaru Kitchen, who moved south from Auckland during the winter, fractured his thumb batting in the nets on Wednesday.
Volts coach Nathan King said Kitchen decided to have a bat in the nets after being dismissed on day three of Otago's warm-up match against Canterbury in Rangiora.
He was struck on the glove during the session, and an X-ray on Thursday showed he had a ''small fracture''.
Kitchen was expected to be out of action for three or four weeks, King said.
The right-hander was not the only Otago player to suffer a fractured thumb the past week, as veteran bowler Bradley Scott picked up a similar injury while batting during the warm-up match.
Scott is also expected to miss three or four weeks.
Minus the injuries, King was pleased with what he saw during the pre-season match against Canterbury, where the teams took turn about to bat and bowl during the four days.
Some of Otago's players would get an extra hit-out before the season opener by playing club cricket today, King said.
''None of the bowlers are playing. Some of the batsmen will play, and I've just left it optional for a number of others. It's up to them, really.''
With club cricket being played on artificial pitches early in the season, Volts bowlers would usually only come off five or six steps.
''It's not overly beneficial for them,'' King said.
''They've been bowling off the full run-up the past four days, so they don't need to be playing club cricket. It's not going to do anything for them.''
Otago will train in Dunedin on Monday, before King names his team for its first match.
The team leaves for Nelson on Tuesday.
