Frozen hamburger patties 1, Jeremy Affeldt 0 - MLB

Jeremy Affeldt is out for the season after surgery Friday to repair nerve damage in his right hand sustained when he suffered a cut while trying to separate frozen hamburger patties during a Thursday evening BBQ.

Yes, frozen hamburger patties.

First, you’re making $4.5 million per year based on your ability to grip and throw a baseball. Maybe it’s not such a good idea to do stupid things with sharp knives? And, for what it’s worth, I’ve done this before; it’s actually quite a bit easier to separate the patties with a dull butter knife. They’re thicker and they won’t twist

Second, you’re making $4.5 million per year and using frozen hamburger patties for a BBQ?

It’s not Affeldt’s pitching hand, so this shouldn’t have any lingering effects going into 2012. And if the Giants still had a real shot of playing in October, they probably wouldn’t be ruling the lefty out for the season just yet.

Still, given that this random act of stupidity is going to cost the Giants one of their best relievers for the final three weeks of the season, Affeldt should at least go ahead and donate the remaining half-million he’s due this year to charity so some good would come it.

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”