Ryan Braun has numbness in his thumb: surgery a possibility - MLB

The one thing Ryan Braun needed to do this year in order to quiet the naysayers was to put up a typical Ryan Braun season. Well, it wouldn’t quiet all of the naysayers, because even if he passes every drug test for the rest of his life people will say that he’s using some new, undetectable PED because that’s how a lot of people like to think. We can agree, however, that if he puts up a sucky season that people will say “see, he was a PED creation!”

And they’ll say that even if he’s injured. Which, he seems to be. And it could be serious. His thumb is numb and it could result in surgery:

Short version: Thumb is numb because of a nerve problem. So he can’t tell how hard he’s gripping the ball & has developed bad blisters.

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 4, 2014

Braun’s options: Figure a way to manage it, or surgery. Doesn’t want to even talk about the latter option yet. More to come on the site.

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 4, 2014

Braun is in the lineup DHing today in Boston. But if the problem doesn’t go away soon, he could miss a lot of time.

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.”