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Ryan Braun: Thumb is pain-free for 1st time in 2 years

Kim Klement / USA TODAY Sports

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun could be heading into the 2015 season with a clean bill of health.

Braun told reporters Wednesday during the team's Thanksgiving food drive his surgically-repaired thumb is back to 100 percent, and he's pain-free for the first time in two years.

The 30-year-old, who has been suffering through an ailing nerve in his thumb since early 2014, underwent a cryotherapy procedure on Oct. 2. He took swings following the procedure and reported no pain.

Braun still put up respectable numbers (.266, 19 home runs, 81 RBIs) last season despite battling the injury on a daily basis. A return to full health, however, could help him replicate the kind of totals he produced in 2011, when he earned National League MVP honors.

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