Daily Dose: Thumbs Down

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The Cardinals have the best record in baseball, but they haven’t gotten there without navigating through a multitude of injuries. Adam Wainwright, Matt Holliday, Matt Adams, Jaime Garcia, Jon Jay, Randal Grichuk and Jordan Walden have all missed significant chunks of the campaign, and now you can add Yadier Molina to the list of the walking wounded.

Molina injured his left thumb on Sunday and on Monday it was revealed that he suffered a slight ligament tear. He tore the ligament in his right thumb last season and wound up missing seven weeks, but the Cards say this injury isn’t as serious and they hope Molina can return before the end of the regular season.

"There's a reason to have some optimism," manager Mike Matheny said. "When he slid into third base last year, there was instantly, 'OK, this is going to be a while.' That is not the same message we're hearing right now. Right now, it's not definitive that he's going to be out for a long period of time, which, for us, is good news."

Molina will be re-evaluated in 5-7 days, at which point the club should have a clearer idea about a potential timetable. General manager John Mozeliak indicated that hitting would probably give Molina the most trouble, which is bad news for a guy who was already having a down year offensively. Yadi sports a .270/.310/.350 batting line with just four homers on the season and has hit only .152/.231/.174 this month. Molina’s fantasy owners can probably feel free to go ahead and cut him loose. Tony Cruz will fill in behind the dish for Molina but is an awful hitter and can be ignored for fantasy purposes.

The news isn’t all bad for the Cardinals on the injury front. Once assumed to be done for the season with a torn Achilles, Wainwright was cleared for full baseball activity on Monday and has designs of returning to the big club this season.

Wainwright will throw a high-intensity bullpen session on Tuesday and then is slated for a simulated game later this week. He’ll field his position during the simulated game, which will be the biggest test for his Achilles to date.

There’s not enough time for Wainwright to be stretched out as a starter, but he could be a bullpen option as soon as next week. The 34-year-old has some history as a reliever, of course, as he was terrific out of the bullpen in his first full major league season in 2006, serving as the Cardinals’ closer during their run to the World Series. He could potentially work his way into a setup role during the playoffs if he keeps progressing.

Braun Needs Back Surgery

Entering the season, the injury worry with Ryan Braun concerned his thumb. At the close of the season, it’s his back that’s the problem.

Braun missed a third straight start on Monday with a nagging back ailment that’s been bothering him for the bulk of the second half. He wouldn’t reveal any specifics on the injury but conceded that he’s going to require surgery after the season.

"I've known that for a couple of months," Braun said. "If it were to get worse, it would prolong the recovery time, so that's what we're trying to avoid. It's kind of a fine line that we're walking there."

With just a couple weeks left in the season and the Brewers well out of the playoff hunt, there would seem to be a good chance playing time for Braun down the stretch will be minimal and we can’t rule out him being shut down altogether. His fantasy owners that are in a roster bind might have no choice but to cut him loose and scoop up someone who’s healthy.

"It's kind of a challenging situation, just kind of understanding what I'm dealing with in my back," Braun said. "Obviously, I want to play, I want to get out there, but I don't want to risk significantly prolonging the recovery process of the procedure I'm going to have. I do a lot of work with the trainers every day. The training staff here is pretty spectacular, and I'll trust their vision and I'll continue to do what I can to get out there, but also be smart about it."

While Braun’s season might be ending on a sour note, those who invested a draft pick in him in the spring made out well, as he’s batted .287/.359/.503 with 25 home runs, 84 RBI, 24 stolen bases and 87 runs scored. He might not ever reach his MVP heights again but has proved in 2015 that he can still be a five-category stud.

Hamilton to Have Shoulder Operation

Billy Hamilton currently leads the majors in stolen bases, but by just about any measure his season has been a disappointment. That season is now over.

Hamilton will have arthroscopic surgery on Friday to repair the capsule in his right shoulder. The speedy outfielder first hurt his shoulder back on August 18 while trying to make a diving catch, returned after three weeks on the disabled list but then re-injured it after less than a week back on the active roster while making throws from the outfield. Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said that Hamilton isn’t dealing with any structural damage, but they think the operation will help him moving forward. Hamilton will be 100 percent for spring training.

After being treated as a top-50 player in fantasy drafts in the spring, Hamilton is barely going to finish in the top 100 despite 57 steals. He’s hit an ugly .226/.274/.289 with just 56 runs scored and spent more time hitting ninth than leadoff. Dating back to the All-Star break last season, Hamilton’s batting average sits at .220 across 706 plate appearances.

The Reds will continue to employ Jason Bourgeois as their center fielder down the stretch.

National League Quick Hits: Jimmy Nelson (head) will not make another appearance this season ... Ryan Zimmerman (oblique) has yet to be cleared to resume swinging a bat ... Starling Marte went 4-for-5 with an RBI double and a solo home run in Monday’s win over the Rockies ... Jaime Garcia pitched seven innings of one-run ball in the Cardinals’ victory versus the Reds ... Jorge De La Rosa was scratched from Wednesday's start against the Pirates due to left Achilles tendinitis ... John Lamb spun six shutout frames against the Cardinals ... Jon Niese shut the Braves out over six innings to pick up the win on Monday ... Justin Turner underwent a precautionary MRI on his left knee Monday ... Michael Foltynewicz had the anterior half of his first right rib removed on Monday to alleviate the blood clots in his right arm ...

American League Quick Hits: Jeff Samardzija threw a one-hit shutout versus the Tigers on Monday, needing just 88 pitches ... David Price recorded seven strikeouts over seven scoreless frames in Monday’s victory over the Yankees ... Carlos Correa doubled, tripled, and homered across four at-bats in Monday’s win over the Angels ... Xander Bogaerts blasted a grand slam and also added an RBI double against the Rays on Monday ... Dallas Keuchel yielded only one run over 7 2/3 innings to beat the Angels on Monday ... Robbie Ross recorded his fifth save this month in Monday’s win over the Rays ... Brandon Guyer went 3-for-4 with a walk and a solo home run as the Rays lost to the Red Sox ... Nathan Eovaldi (elbow) is still a week away from resuming throwing ... Alex Avila hit a home run and walked twice in three plate appearances Monday ...