The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Brantley need not apologize, but he did
Indians still hope for return of injured outfielder this season
Let’s let Hollywood write the script for this ending:
Late October, ninth inning, Game 7 of the ALCS, Indians down two runs with two runners on, Michael Brantley at the plate after going hitless in his previous three atbats, one out.
Tom Hamilton with the call:
“Here’s the pitch. Swing and a drive! Waaaaaay back! Gone! Michael Brantley with his first home run of the postseason and just his third in 2016, but it couldn’t have come at a better time.”
To say this has been a disappointing season for Brantley doesn’t begin to paint the picture of what the Indians outfielder has gone through. He has been stuck like Voodoo doll by doctors trying to relieve the pain in his right shoulder and biceps hindering him from swinging freely.
Brantley hasn’t played since May 9. His progress is impeded every time he gets close to returning from the disabled list. Last week doctors removed scar tissue from the front of his surgically repaired right shoulder after Brantley felt something that wasn’t right during a rehab
assignment at AA-Akron.
Sixty-four games remain in the regular season. That’s still a lot of baseball to play, which is why the Indians aren’t telling Brantley to shut it down and come back fully charged for 2017. Even if the Indians weren’t leading the A.L. Central, that would be unwise because Tribe manager Terry Francona said MRIs on Brantley’s shoulder and biceps show no structural damage. Yet something is not right.
“He wants desperately to play — we know that,” Francona said on July 26 before the Indians played the Nationals at Progressive Field. “There’ve been a couple times he’s come in and almost like apologized. And I’m just real quick to tell him, ‘You don’t need to do that.’ What we ask our guys is try hard, be a good citizen. He’s off the charts in those areas. His shoulder just hurts. That’s not his fault.”
Brantley was injured Sept. 22 last year diving for a ball at Target Field in a game against the Twins. More than 10 months later, eight months after surgery, he still can’t swing the bat like he can when healthy. He is currently hitting from the batting cage against a pitching machine so the velocity can be increased.
“It’s frustrating,” Brantley said. “I want to be out there with these teammates and this coaching staff and contributing in a positive way. The guys are doing a great job. I just want to be a part of it.
“At the same time, I have to be healthy. I won’t come back at 50 percent or 75 percent. I owe it to these guys and this great organization to be healthy when I come back and contribute in a positive way.”
Brantley scored a combined 162 runs and drove in 181 runs the last two seasons. Despite missing that production, the Indians have been in first place in the A.L. Central since June 4. Their plus86 run differential heading
into the game with Washington, a tribute to their starting pitching, is best in the American League.
Still, the Indians would obviously be more potent with Brantley’s bat. And though 64 games remain, the minor-league affiliates have little more than a month left in their seasons. There’s the rub; Francona wants Brantley to go on more rehab assignments when he is finally cleared to play.
“I think as long as we have some games left where he can (go on a rehab assignment), Brantley could still play this season,” Francona said. “That would be tough. If you get into September and there’s nowhere for him to see live pitching. Yeah, that’s a lot to ask. But, we’re still a pretty good ways from that.”
This is a story that still points to a happy ending, even if it’s a couple of chapters away.
Schudel may be reached at JSchudel@ news-herald.com; @ jsproinsider on Twitter.