News came down on the status of three National League sluggers on Monday, and its good news for one; and bad news for two others.
The good news comes out of Milwaukee, where Brewers’ outfielder Ryan Braun has been activated from the disabled list. Braun has been out of action since June 9th with a right thumb contusion. While Braun has been taking batting practice in recent days, the news that he is ready to come back is a bit of a surprise, as it was originally thought that Braun would sit out until after the all star break. In order to make room for Braun, the Brewers placed Aramis Ramirez on the DL as he aggravated a knee injury in the Brewers weekend series against the New York Mets.
Meanwhile, the news wasn’t as good for Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. Placed on the disabled list on Saturday with knee inflammation, an MRI showed that Howard is suffering from a torn meniscus in his left knee. Howard will require surgery on his knee, and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. The loss of Howard is a big blow to the Phillies as they were attempting to make up ground in the NL East.
In Los Angeles, Matt Kemp re-aggravated a problem in his left shoulder on Friday night. After a cortisone shot had little effect in reducing the pain and swelling, Kemp has been put back on the disabled list. Kemp’s shoulder was injured last year, and he underwent off-season surgery to correct the problem. Kemp had returned to the lineup at the beginning of July, after spending most of June on the disabled list with an unrelated hamstring injury. He returns to the disabled list just days after fellow outfielder Carl Crawford was reactivated.
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