Goodbye Anderson Varejao and Serial Season 2 – WFNY Podcast No. 461
February 22, 2016Fangraphs gives Indians’ offseason a “C”, urges signing of Austin Jackson
February 22, 2016While the initial timetables may have inferred otherwise, Cleveland Indians left fielder Michael Brantley has set a goal of being ready for the team’s Opening Day game against the Boston Red Sox. Undergoing shoulder surgery this past November, Brantley was expected to miss most of—if not all of—spring, but has been reportedly looking good thus far in Goodyear, Arizona.
Brantley held court this morning. Has advanced to hitting off tee. Maintains that Opening Day is his target. pic.twitter.com/aSCCX2OGAu
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 22, 2016
Brantley began taking dry swings last week and has already advanced to hitting off a tee. Aside from his solo hitting program, Brantley has reportedly been participating in all other team drills. In a recent Q&A with WFNY, physical therapist Jim Moran pegged Brantley as being able to swing a bat four months after surgery, meaning the left fielder is a few weeks ahead of schedule.
Voted as the game’s best left fielder, general consensus was that Brantley won’t return until late April or early May but it’s appears he could come back sooner if he avoids setbacks and the team gives the former MVP vote-getter a green light. The Tribe will take on the Boston Red Sox at 4:10 p.m. on Monday, April 4 at Progressive Field.
7 Comments
That’d be cool.
I’m a bit uneasy about rushing tinetables. I trust he is monitored closely, bit it is still a tough area. It is certainly plausible, but it feels pulling in 4-5 wks is a bit much.
Shoulders are a weird thing. I had same surgery repairing my labrum after a dislocated shoulder and after a month, there were little restrictions (surprisingly) on the amount of weight they were allowing me to do for PT. Shoulder was very strong after a month. The thing that takes longer is getting the range of motion back. It was the over the head stuff that was harder. I am sure with the trainers available to him, he should be able to work through it, although it may be a little painful after workouts. Bottom line, I was told there is no wait x amount of time before you will be able to return to normal activities.
Management Reserve
I wonder how much it affects his hitting compared to his fielding. The Indians could have benefited from putting a better defender in LF before he was hurt, so I wouldn’t mind seeing him get a lot more days at DH if he can swing the bat sooner.
If he’s just hitting and not throwing, he’ll be fine. Unless they do what they did to Hafner and mandate he does extra fielding for interleague games to the point where his shoulder blows out, he’ll be fine.
Only issue in LF is diving. Throwing should be back quicker than his swing.