Brewers place Thames on DL with torn UCL in thumb

The Milwaukee Brewers will be without a key contributor for the foreseeable future, as the club placed first baseman Eric Thames on the 10-day disabled list with a torn UCL in his left thumb.

A similar injury forced Bryce Harper to miss two months in 2014, while fellow star Mike Trout was sidelined for almost seven weeks with the ailment last season. While both Harper and Trout required surgery, Brewers general manager David Stearns said, "It's not a definite, but likely" that Thames goes under the knife too, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.

In a corresponding move, the Brewers recalled right-hander Brandon Woodruff from Triple-A.

The injury comes at a bad time for Thames and the first-place Brewers, who enter Wednesday's game against Kansas City riding a seven-game winning streak. Prior to the setback, Thames hit .286/.375/.686 (1.061 OPS) over his last 12 games. On the season, the veteran slugger leads the Brewers with a .407 wOBA and is tied with Lorenzo Cain for tops on the club with 156 wRC+.