Ryan Braun to undergo thumb surgery

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun needs surgery to repair his nagging right thumb injury and he'll get it this coming week, the Brewers have announced. The rare procedure will involve freezing a nerve near his thumb.

The injury has been bothering Braun for much of the past two seasons, though it reportedly got worse later this season.

"If I was relatively healthy, if I was performing up to the standard I set for myself, then we'd be in a different place as a team. It makes it that much more difficult for me personally to accept the way the season went," Braun said (via Associated Press).

Braun's numbers noticably dipped as the season progressed. Through 43 games, he was hitting .318/.353/.565 with 11 doubles, nine homers and 30 RBI. The rest of his season (92 games), he hit .242/.311/.400 with 10 homers. In September, when the Brewers went 9-17, Braun hit .210/.319/.284 with just one home run.

Braun said the reason he didn't yet have the surgery is due to how rare the procedure is.

"The whole reason we hadn't done it sooner was because there isn't a lot of experience in doing this specific surgery that I'm getting done," he said (via AP).


(cbssports.com)