NEWSLETTER
The streaking, first-place Brewers have suffered a significant injury to one of their hottest bats. First baseman Eric Thames has a torn UCL in his thumb, and he’s going to miss some time.
1B Eric Thames has been placed on the 10-day disabled list with a tear of the UCL in his left thumb. RHP Brandon Woodruff has been recalled from Triple-A @skysox. pic.twitter.com/zwunWFRatG
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 25, 2018
Among the few *thumb* UCL injuries in baseball I can recall, it was usually an 8 to 10-week situation before the player could return. That would put Thames out until sometime in July.
For the Brewers, it’s a rough injury given that Thames was hitting .250/.351/.625 with a 156 wRC+. Then again, he posted insane numbers early last year, too, before falling off, so maybe the Brewers will now just avoid that slide. There’s your optimistic take if you’re a Brewers fan, anyway.
With Thames out, Jesus Aguilar will see regular starts at first base, and Ryan Braun may actually now see more time at first base, as the team indicated in Spring Training.
It’s been a tough start to the year for the Brewers on the serious injury front, as they’re also without closer Corey Knebel (hamstring) for an extended period of time. But Knebel is already throwing off the mound, and if Thames can return on the shorter end of the usual UCL timetable, maybe they won’t have missed too much.
