Ryan Braun says thumb 'feels pretty good'

Kansas City – Since undergoing another cryotherapy procedure on his troublesome right thumb on June 3, Ryan Braun has cooled considerably at the plate.

In 12 games, Braun is hitting just .233 with one homer, three RBI and an OPS of .678 compared to a month of May in which he hit .272 with 8 homers, 28 RBI and posted an OPS of .932.

Asked how his thumb has been feeling since the latest procedure, Braun was fairly tight-lipped.

“Overall it feels pretty good,” he said. “I’m happy with where it’s at.”

Braun had the first procedure done on his thumb last October, just days after the season ended. Braun entered some uncharted territory by having it done in-season this time, and he sat out two games immediately after as a result.

Braun homered in his first at-bat back in Minnesota, but had just three extra-base hits in the 11 games since entering Thursday.

“The difference obviously was in October we weren’t playing baseball at all,” he said. “When you’re still playing and still dealing with it, it’s a much different set of circumstances than October.

“But overall it feels really good.”

Counsell said Braun’s recent dropoff at the plate looks more to him like a player going through the typical ups and downs than someone struggling to play through injury.

“This is a baseball season thing,” he said. “You have good stretches and you have bad stretches. I think he’s going through a little rough patch. I’m fully expecting a big game any day, really. Every hitter’s going to go through these. We went through this thing with Adam Lind and then all of a sudden he had a great week or whatever.

“So it’s similar to that for me.”

Braun, too, maintained he’s just fighting through a tough stretch.

“Just the way the season goes,” he said. “It’s a tough game. It’s been a really challenging season for us. A daily fight to try to stay positive, to stay optimistic because it’s been a pretty miserable experience for us to this point.

“It’s really been pretty terrible overall.”


(jsonline.com)