Oakland Athletics' right-hander Brandon McCarthy has been moved out of the intensive care unit and is progressing steadily in his recovery from brain and skull injuries, reports Buster Olney of ESPN:

Good news about Brandon McCarthy: He is out of the intensive care unit, and continues to make progress in his recovery.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) September 10, 2012

McCarthy, 29, had been in the ICU since Wednesday recovering from surgery to relieve pressure on a life-threatening brain hemorrhage suffered during his last start. The tall right-hander took a line drive to the back of the head off the bat of Erick Aybar that fractured his skull and caused bleeding in the thin membrane between his brain and skull.

CT scans conducted after the two-hour surgery revealed that the hematoma was subsiding, but McCarthy remained in the ICU for several days as a precaution. It is unknown how much longer McCarthy will remain in the hospital, but with such serious brain trauma it is likely to be several more days.

McCarthy has made brief returns to Twitter and displayed his usual sense of humor, which hopefully can be taken as a good sign. We at MLBDD continue to send our best wishes to Brandon and his family, and hope for a full recovery.