Brach undergoes minor procedure on left knee

Orioles reliever Brad Brach underwent a minor medical procedure last week involving the meniscus in his left knee. Nothing complicated and apparently no reason for concern.

Ravens team physician Dr. Leigh Ann Curl performed the surgery, which Brach was told lasted only seven to 10 minutes.

"It was real basic," Brach said. "It was just like I had a flap tear, a tiny little flap torn on my left meniscus. Dr. Curl told me I was in and out. I got to the hospital at 6 a.m. and was out by 9:30 or 10.

"Real easy, real basic."

Brach had the surgery on Oct. 11 and started his physical therapy on Monday.

"I pretty much feel close to 100 percent already," he said.

Brach was hesitant to inform the Orioles of the issue with his knee because it didn't affect his pitching and he didn't want to risk losing innings as they fought to gain a playoff spot.

"I kind of held off a little bit saying anything because it's something I didn't want to miss any time with," said Brach, an All-Star for the first time this summer. "It was more walking and running in the outfield. I could feel it when I was stopping.

"It's one of those things where I didn't want to say anything, but it wasn't going away. I finally said something the last week, but it never really affected me during the year."

Brach went 10-4 with a 2.05 ERA, two saves, 92 strikeouts and a 1.038 WHIP in 71 appearances covering 79 innings. He led the club in appearances and holds (24), and stranded 24 of 27 inherited runners. He was 6-1 with a 0.91 ERA and 0.831 WHIP in the first half and 4-3 with a 3.94 ERA and 1.382 WHIP after the break.

Brach threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings in the wild card game in Toronto, allowing two hits and striking out two.

Arbitration-eligible for the second time, Brach is projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to receive a raise from $1.25 million to $2.9 million.