Ryan Jeffers has fractured thumb, could be out 2 months

The Twins catcher played with the injury in recent weeks but needs to take time off to heal.

Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers could be out for the next two months after an MRI revealed he has a fractured right thumb.

Jeffers was initially injured on July 1 when he took a pitch off his throwing hand during pregame warmups. Although he started the game against the Baltimore Orioles, he was removed after one at-bat and missed the next two games.

Jeffers returned to the lineup on July 4 and went 8-for-24 (.333 average) with two home runs and five RBI over the next six games but his thumb never healed. After being placed on the injured list on Friday, further testing revealed the fracture, which will take 6-8 weeks to heal.

Losing Jeffers is a big blow to the Twins' depth at catcher. The 25-year-old got off to a slow start this season but was hitting .316/.371/.561 with 3 homers and 10 RBI over his past 17 games.

The Twins called up catcher Caleb Hamilton on Friday, but Gary Sanchez will likely carry more of the load while Jeffers is on the shelf.