Jerry Crasnick, ESPN Senior Writer 8y

Indians' Michael Brantley anxious to contribute every game

PHILADELPHIA -- The Cleveland Indians have encountered some early challenges after being labeled a team to watch during spring training. Pitcher Carlos Carrasco just went on the disabled list for four to six weeks with a hamstring injury. Closer Cody Allen is 0-3 with a 6.97 ERA. The Indians are 4-7 in one-run games, including back-to-back walk-off losses in Minnesota last week. And judging from all those postponements, rain delays and cold, dank days at the park, they might be the most meteorologically challenged team in the game.

"You can usually tell how many degrees it is by the snot running down my nose," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said.

The last thing Francona wanted to do Sunday afternoon was give his most talented player a seat against hard-throwing right-hander Vince Velasquez with the Philadelphia Phillies on the verge of a three-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park. But sometimes the long-term view takes precedence over events that might transpire during any given nine innings.

Outfielder Michael Brantley is seven months removed from tearing his right labrum while diving for a ball, and he’s hitting .118 (2-for-17) since returning to the lineup in left field. While he’s anxious to get back to speed quickly, the Indians are determined to monitor his workload, mix in regular rest and not push him so quickly that he suffers a setback.

So Brantley rested Sunday, and the Indians promptly went out and dropped a 2-1 decision to Velasquez and the youthfully exuberant Phillies.

"We told Michael early on, ‘Hey, having you back for two out of three is better than not having you,'" Francona said. "He’s the one that wants to play because he cares so much. If we use good judgment early on, we won’t have to worry about it later. But it’s hard because he wants to play. I get it. I just don’t want him to hurt himself out of feeling he owes it to the team."

The Indians were a trendy pick this season because of a rotation led by Corey Kluber, Carrasco and Danny Salazar, but they needed to upgrade a lineup that ranked 11th in the American League with 669 runs last year. Outfielder Rajai Davis (.277 with a .446 slugging percentage) has had a relatively productive first month with the team. Newly acquired first baseman Mike Napoli (33 strikeouts in 78 at-bats) has not.

Brantley's return to form will go a long way toward helping the Indians hang with the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. In 2014, Brantley banged out 200 hits and 45 doubles and finished third behind Mike Trout and Victor Martinez in AL MVP balloting. Last year, Brantley was closing out another productive season when he hurt his shoulder in a diving pursuit of an Aaron Hicks triple at Target Field in late September. The injury eventually required surgery in early November.

Since the injury was to Brantley’s non-throwing arm, his challenge throughout the process was regaining strength in the shoulder and being able to swing a bat to his and the Indians’ standards. After missing an overly ambitious target return date of Opening Day, he made his debut as a pinch hitter in a road game at Minnesota on April 25.

A week later, Brantley’s routine consists of coming to the ballpark early and going through a regimen of warm-up exercises to activate the shoulder; then staying late to work on strengthening exercises. Like most competitive athletes, Brantley has been challenged to find a balance between wanting to play every day and taking breathers he knows are in his best interests.

"If it was up to me, I’d try to play every single day," Brantley said. "That’s my mentality. But at the same time, you have to be smart. It’s a long season. It’s a grind. The healthier I am each and every day, the better I’m going to be for my teammates.

"They’ve built some days in, but I also have the right to sit down and talk to them as well. I think I’ve earned the trust of the manager and the medical staff and our front office to kind of feel things out. We’re going to go through it together and make the right decisions."

When Brantley needs a sounding board, he can always feel free to pick up a phone and call or text his father, Mickey, a former Seattle Mariners outfielder who runs a hitting school in Florida. There’s little or nothing the son is going through that the dad hasn’t been through before.

“I’ve been very fortunate having a father who played and coached in the major leagues, and just being able to travel around with him and watch major league hitters and understand how baseball works at a young age," Brantley said. "I talk to him every day and we go through last night’s game and what we’re going to do today. He’s a huge influence on my career."

A calming voice and a little veteran perspective never hurt. When it’s early May, the weather stinks, the hits aren’t coming and one-run losses are getting contagious, that goes double. A week into his injury comeback, Michael Brantley doesn’t need his father’s voice to remind him that patience is the most important commodity of all.

^ Back to Top ^