The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Tribe medical staff has trust of players
As much as Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley wanted to get back out on the field, they had to be patient and listen to Indians trainers, Jeff Schudel writes. Plus, thoughts on Cavaliers-Warriors.
Players rehabbing from injuries in any sport need a special bond with team trainers and doctors, and here on the Cleveland sports scene, there are no better examples of that than Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis.
Both Indians stars recovered from shoulder injuries to again become everyday players. The trials Kipnis went through this spring were not nearly as grueling as what Brantley had to endure for more than a year, but both players had to listen to the team medical staff when their bodies might have been telling them, “Everything’s fine. Go out there and cut it loose.”
Kipnis, the Indians’ second baseman, missed all but two games in spring training and the first 15 games of the regular season with shoulder inflammation. He started playing catch-up the moment he stepped into the batter’s box against the White Sox on April 21 in his first atbat in the regular season.
The rust was evident. He hit .161 with no home runs and one RBI in nine games in April. He hit .248 with six home runs and 19 RBI in 26 games in May.
“Like any player, as soon as I started feeling good, I wanted to be back,” Kipnis said on May 30 after the Indians beat the A’s, 9-4. Kipnis homered in the game. “The doctors and trainers have to reel you in a little bit and say, ‘Hey, you’re not ready. You need more time.’
“That’s why they have the plans they do for working guys in; play seven innings, then off a day. Play two nine-inning games, then off. They have their own progressions to make sure you come back and stay back. You don’t come back too quickly and risk injury again.”
Lonnie Soloff, the Tribe’s senior director of medical services, is in his 14th season with the Indians. James Quinlan is in his fourth year as head athletic trainer. Joe Kessler is the Indians’ major league strength and conditioning coach.
Brantley’s problems began when he injured his right shoulder diving for a fly ball in Minnesota on Sept. 22, 2015. He underwent surgery in November, missed most of 2016, and is finally back to the 2014 and 2015 Brantley. Every time he talks about his rehab, he praises the Indians’ medical staff.
“I’m just glad to be back,” Brantley said. “It was a lot of hard work from the doctors to the training staff to my family for their support. I’m happy to be playing baseball again. We’re in a good situation.”
Brantley was hitting .311 with five home runs and 24 RBI in 46 games heading into the game against Royals on June 3. He has played in all but seven games.
Team effort needed
The autopsy on the Cavaliers’ Game 1 loss in the NBA Finals will continue right up until tip-off in Game 2 at 8 p.m. June 4.
Sure, there were the 20 turnovers, the disappearing act by Tristan Thompson and the failure to defend Kevin Durant. But right there along with everything else was the Cavaliers’ role players contributing next to nothing on the scoresheet.
J.R. Smith scored one basket on a 3-pointer. Thompson was 0-for-3 in 22 minutes. Kyle Korver was 0-for-3 in 20 minutes and Deron Williams was 0-for-4 in 19 minutes.
The Cavaliers cannot play with the Warriors for 48 minutes without help from Williams and Korver. Korver, a deadly 3-point shooter, had a reduced role against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
Kevin Love, who did the dirty work in Game 1 with 21 rebounds to go with 15 points, delicately said some players had a case of stage fright.
“I think overall guys just need to settle in,” Love said on a conference call. “The Finals obviously are a different feel, a different moment, especially playing away from home. Having to settle in, whether it’s after the first quarter or first half, first game, whatever it is.
“I think now that certain guys have gotten a taste of it, even guys that have been here before and had the experience, have gone out there and gotten a feel of what things are going to be like in this series, I think you’ll see a lot better showing in Game 2 out of the guys. It’s not for lack of effort. I think guys are going out there, competing very hard. In some ways it’s just us focusing even that much more on the game plan and knowing how we have to play this Warriors team.”
Richard Jefferson scored nine points and Iman Shumpert had five. Dahntay Jones scored seven points in garbage time.
By comparison, Durant and Curry scored a combined 66 points. Ten other Warriors combined for 57 points.
• I expect a much closer result in Game 2 because the Cavaliers are better than the team that was so sloppy with the ball and so slow on defense in Game 1.
I am eager to see how Durant and Curry respond if the game is close. We saw Curry crack under pressure in the Finals last year when pressure got tight.
Warriors guard Klay Thompson said he doesn’t care his scoring has dropped so dramatically. His body language says something else.
“That’s not a big deal at all,” Thompson said on a conference call. “If I score six points a game and it gets us four wins and an NBA championship, I can do that every year. I’m not about getting numbers. I’m not about getting these gaudy stats. At the end of the day, if you win the last game, you had a great season.”
• According to tickpick. com, the average price on the secondary market for one ticket for Game 3 at Quicken Loans Arean on June 7 is $1,587.22. It jumps almost $200 to $1,756 for Game 4 on June 9. A Game 6 ticket’s average cost is $1,774.
If the series goes the distance, the average cost of a Game 7 ticket in Oakland would be $3,630.11.
And who goes to a game alone without buying anything or parking a car first?
Viewing championship basketball live is not for the average working stiff.
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... until I read my Snapple bottle cap
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