Rangers’ Beltre has thumb surgery, expected to be ready for spring training

Third baseman Adrian Beltre had surgery to repair his left thumb Thursday in Los Angeles, the Texas Rangers announced.

Dr. Steven Shin removed scar tissue as part of a clean-up in the thumb. The Rangers expect Beltre to be ready for spring training in late February.

Beltre injured a ligament in the thumb on a slide into second base on May 31. He spent the next three weeks on the disabled list before returning to the lineup despite obvious pain, especially when swinging a bat.

He jammed his left index finger during a slide Sept. 18 and wore a brace for protection. In Game 1 of the ALDS against the Blue Jays, Beltre had to leave with lower back stiffness after sliding in hard at second.

The third baseman hit .287 with 18 homers and 83 RBI in 143 games.

Mariners’ skipper

Seattle on Friday hired former big league catcher Scott Servais, 48, as their manager. Servais spent six seasons as the senior director of player development with the Rangers before joining new Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto in the Angels’ front office in 2011. Servais has never been a manager.

Tim Bogar, the Rangers’ interim manager in 2014, may join Servais as bench coach, The Associated Press reported.

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 10:10 PM with the headline "Rangers’ Beltre has thumb surgery, expected to be ready for spring training."