Braun's Thumb

[BrewCrewForever]

I really felt Ryan was going to have a monster year similar to 11' and 12'. But if this is an issue all year which it seems it will be, I think he will just be good and probably have to miss a fair amount of games. So sad and frustrating.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Braun is out of the lineup today. Here we go again...

[PrinceEatMeat]

Nothing in the stats means anything right now. How he looks at the plate is all that matters.

 

Yep, and he looked terrible yesterday. Not in the lineup today. So not good.

[BrewCrewForever]

This is beyond frustrating. It's going to be like this all season, if he doesn't end up on the DL.

[3and2Fastball]

He's been driving the ball but swings that used to be long Home Runs are now being caught short of the warning track. Some of those will definitely find gaps over the course of the season and turn into Doubles. If this doesn't get fixed he's going to turn into a 18 HR/44 Doubles type of player, hitting .305 with a .385 OBP.... not elite but still dangerous

[PrinceEatMeat]

He's been driving the ball but swings that used to be long Home Runs are now being caught short of the warning track. Some of those will definitely find gaps over the course of the season and turn into Doubles. If this doesn't get fixed he's going to turn into a 18 HR/44 Doubles type of player, hitting .305 with a .385 OBP.... not elite but still dangerous

 

The only way he'll put up even close to those numbers you listed is if he sits out a lot of games throughout the season. If he doesn't, then he'll look bad most of the time like he did yesterday. But either way, his power numbers won't be there like you said.

[DHonks]

Gindl not playing in game 2

[PrinceEatMeat]

Gindl not playing in game 2

Hmmmm. Although you'd think he would've sat out both if it meant something.

[SoupTown]

From reading all I can from the participants over the last two days, a lot of disturbing news

 

1) Melvin said (as recently as yesterday)... it is not an issue right now; so, considering he thinks this is not an issue, viewing what is known from last year, means he hopes some nerve fairy will visit and wand over the damage - and... no issue

 

2) RRR just says he is tired of talking about it; which leads me to think he has no plan or idea what to do

 

3) Braun just says 'it is what it is'

 

And here is what it is: Braun cannot feel his thumb so he does not know how hard to grip the baseball when he throws. Braun cannot hold two hands on the bat at the point of contact anymore. He must let go with the right hand as the pain is so severe.

 

Historically he says ONE end of the bat hit last year (in May) caused the pain/tingling/funny bone sensation - and it never went away. There is no known surgery to repair this - aside from removing the nerve - and losing all feeling in the thumb, but Braun stated a 'life long' impact like this would not be considered. Rest (5 months) made the problem go away, but baseball activity caused the problem to come back.

 

It appears the approach is to make some hand padding so at bats, at the point of contact, are not so painful.

 

Now, what to do, given all we know. And we know all there is to know. There is no more to know - as far as RRR and Braun say. It is what it is.

 

It is then factual that Braun will never be the Braun of old - pre thumb.

 

a) is Braun's contract insured; if he cannot play - and the injury is permanent (which it is) - the insurance would pay

b) can he become a part time player

 

So fulfil b) would entail

 

i) some training regime that he does not throw much and does not use his right hand much for batting practice

ii) a position switch to the least 'throwing' position (say first base?)

iii) regular days off and rest (does he become part of a first base platoon and is the right hand bat off the bench and the emergency fifth outfielder)

iv) before at bats or games he plays can he take a local pain killing injection

v) similar to i) there needs to be some strange training regime created that allows skills to be maintained without using your right hand (will Braunie's batting practice be 100% the left / one armed batting that is used as a training drill - and the right hand only appears in game time)

 

I will guess Braun has enough natural talent and previous training that he may be able to train only a little and be a useful 24/25th roster spot guy.

 

To me those are the only outcomes: medical retirement / insurance payout or judicial use of time to have a very capable 24th/25th 1st baseman / outfielder / pinch hitter

 

It is what it is.

[502 to Right]

I would immediately move him to 1B if he's having problems throwing. It's being occupied by players who likely can't outhit Braun's replacement in RF anyway. It would be nice to still have Aoki though.

[PrinceEatMeat]

You almost have to think that moving him to 1B is a legit option at some point since this problem will never go away. Seems like the throwing is what causes the blisters and bruises, which then affects his hitting also. I never thought it was a possibility before, but now it does seem like a pretty legit option. However, I highly doubt a move happens during the season. Never know though I guess.

[BrewCrewForever]

Has any baseball player ever had an injury like this before? None that I can remember hearing about.

[JohnBriggs12]

Has any baseball player ever had an injury like this before? None that I can remember hearing about.

 

Oglivie had problems with a thumb in his Brewer days. Don't believe it was a nerve problem though but his power was affected for about a year.

[Eye Black]

Braun back in RF today. I don't have a good feeling about the "grin and bear it" approach going well, but I hope I am wrong.

[Eye Black]

Has any baseball player ever had an injury like this before? None that I can remember hearing about.

 

Oglivie had problems with a thumb in his Brewer days. Don't believe it was a nerve problem though but his power was affected for about a year.

Shane Victorino had thumb surgery in December to release a nerve from his right thumb.

[joepepsi]

Prednisone would probably make the symptoms go away. Doubt anybody would want to go down that road.

[dlk9s]

Or maybe something like Lyrica (I am not a doctor and know nothing about any of this). But yeah, he's going to need like every MLB executive to sign off on any drug he might take.

[jerichoholicninja]

For the record I have no belief in what I'm saying, I'm just putting it out there.

 

Braun was juicing his whole career - college, minors, majors. He gets a minor thumb injury in the beginning of last year. He's playing clean now and knows he's not the same player he was before. He makes the injury out to be more than it really is and claims nerve damage is hampering his game. Braun has shown he has no problem lying to cover up his mistakes in the past so this would not be out of character for him.

 

Once again, I don't believe this. I'm just starting the rumor.

[dlk9s]

Tweet that and see how much traction it gains.

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

If you were GM of the Brewers and you thought Braun's thumb injury was a big problem, would you consider trading him? If his injury is that bad, then he may never return to pre-2011 production levels. If that's the case, then he isn't worth his salary. Of course this is a worst case scenario. If it does come down to this then maybe Milwaukee should dump him and spend that money on another star player. Braun could bring back a nice haul of pitching prospects.

 

I wonder why he's against surgery. Is it really that big of a deal to lose feeling in your thumb?

[nate82]

 

I wonder why he's against surgery. Is it really that big of a deal to lose feeling in your thumb?

 

Yes it is a really big deal to lose the feeling in your thumb. For example if you lose the feeling in your thumb you won't know how hard you are gripping a ball which can lead to blisters and can result in other injuries to the arm, shoulder, hand, elbow, and wrist. You can also lose the feeling of your grip on other objects like a bat. This can lead to more severe problems for a baseball player resulting in a loss of power and bat speed.

 

If my memory serves me correctly I believe Farve also had an injury similar to this and I believe it took a few years for him to recover from it.

[dlk9s]

If you were GM of the Brewers and you thought Braun's thumb injury was a big problem, would you consider trading him? If his injury is that bad, then he may never return to pre-2011 production levels. If that's the case, then he isn't worth his salary. Of course this is a worst case scenario. If it does come down to this then maybe Milwaukee should dump him and spend that money on another star player. Braun could bring back a nice haul of pitching prospects.

If the thumb is that bad that the Brewers would possibly not even want Braun on the team any more, they would have a lot of trouble trading him, especially with the PED issue stacked on top of it. If they were able to trade him, they would have to pony up a ton of his salary.

 

I wonder why he's against surgery. Is it really that big of a deal to lose feeling in your thumb?

http://i.imgur.com/jC2Bmg6.gif

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

 

I wonder why he's against surgery. Is it really that big of a deal to lose feeling in your thumb?

 

Yes it is a really big deal to lose the feeling in your thumb. For example if you lose the feeling in your thumb you won't know how hard you are gripping a ball which can lead to blisters and can result in other injuries to the arm, shoulder, hand, elbow, and wrist. You can also lose the feeling of your grip on other objects like a bat. This can lead to more severe problems for a baseball player resulting in a loss of power and bat speed.

 

If my memory serves me correctly I believe Farve also had an injury similar to this and I believe it took a few years for him to recover from it.

 

Favre seemed to recover very well. Maybe Braun can do the same thing. The risk for re-injury is much higher in football than it is in baseball. Victorino got it fixed right?

[jerichoholicninja]

 

I wonder why he's against surgery. Is it really that big of a deal to lose feeling in your thumb?

 

Yes it is a really big deal to lose the feeling in your thumb. For example if you lose the feeling in your thumb you won't know how hard you are gripping a ball which can lead to blisters and can result in other injuries to the arm, shoulder, hand, elbow, and wrist. You can also lose the feeling of your grip on other objects like a bat. This can lead to more severe problems for a baseball player resulting in a loss of power and bat speed.

 

If my memory serves me correctly I believe Farve also had an injury similar to this and I believe it took a few years for him to recover from it.

 

Favre seemed to recover very well. Maybe Braun can do the same thing. The risk for re-injury is much higher in football than it is in baseball. Victorino got it fixed right?

 

Victorino got the surgery but they jury is still out if it fixed anything. Which is one of the reason's why Braun has said he's not considering surgery.

[dlk9s]

Favre never had an issue with the nerves in his thumb. He sprained his thumb in 1999 and broke it in 2003. Both were obviously serious problems for an athlete, but are also very fixable with or without surgery (depending on severity).