Brewers place Eric Thames on DL with thumb injury
Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Eric Thames tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and will likely need surgery, the team said Wednesday.
A typical timeline for recovery from the surgery would be 6-8 weeks.
The first baseman will head back to Milwaukee after his team wraps up its two-game set in Kansas City and be examined by team doctors, then likely schedule surgery in the hopes of returning for the second half of the season.
"Personally I feel like I let everybody down, but it's nothing I can control,'' said Thames, who was hitting .250 and second in the National League with seven homers. "I saw on (television) that I'll be out six to eight weeks, so I guess that's what it is. It all depends on when the surgery is.''
The Brewers put Thames on the 10-day DL and recalled right-hander Brandon Woodruff from Triple-A Colorado Springs to take his place.
Thames hurt the thumb fielding a grounder in the eighth inning, but really felt the pain when he caught a dropped third strike from his catcher and the pain was intense. He headed to the dugout and told Brewers manager Craig Counsell, "I'm done.''
Jesus Aguilar, who is hitting .429 with a homer and five RBIs, replaced him for the ninth inning, and he got the start on Wednesday night. Ryan Braun could also see some time at first base.
Milwaukee general manager David Stearns said the team still expects to have Thames back in the fold for a "significant" portion of the 2018 campaign.
Yadier Molina (twice), Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Dustin Pedroia have all torn a UCL in the thumb over the past few seasons.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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