Michael Brantley’s goal of being in the Opening Day lineup was noble, and proof of how much he loves the game and cares about the team.
But the Indians must save their most valuable player from himself.
Somehow they must balance their urgency to get off to a fast start and their concern over run production with the big picture. The 28-year-old left fielder is too important to the team’s success — this season and every season — to rush him back from off-season surgery on his right shoulder. If that means Brantley’s stay on the sidelines is a bit longer than originally planned, so be it.
I have faith that manager Terry Francona will resist Brantley’s pleas to play until the time is right and bring him along slowly when he does return. I’m sure Francona will avoid starting Brantley in long stretches of games.
Besides listening to his players, taking care of them is among Francona’s greatest strengths. But with Brantley, there will be temptation to cast aside restraint.
I still question why Brantley waited until Nov. 9 to have the arthroscopic procedure after suffering a small labral tear in his non-throwing shoulder diving for a ball on Sept. 22. I wonder what team doctors saw on Brantley’s MRI that warranted the conservative approach or if that’s merely the way Brantley wanted to go. I certainly understand why he would try to avoid five to six months of rehab, even if he has progressed faster than the Indians expected.
But the Tribe needs Brantley at 100 percent and I doubt he would have been at full strength in 2016 if the conservative choice had won out.
While the Indians’ starting rotation is generating all the buzz, prompting many (including myself) to pick the Tribe to win the American League Central, they have depth there. The Indians are built to survive the bumps and stumbles that a 162-game season inevitably brings.
They are not built to survive the repercussions if Brantley pushes himself too hard too soon.
I’ve thought for years that Brantley is the player who makes the Indians go. Some might argue that is shifting to second baseman Jason Kipnis and/or shortstop Francisco Lindor, and last year’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) statistics bear that out. Brantley’s 3.4 stood fifth on the team and third among position players, trailing Kipnis and Lindor with 4.6.
Brantley also slides below those two because of his unassuming nature and reticence in front of a television camera or voice recorder. He will never be a member of the Indians’ all-quote team. He doesn’t play with the pants-on-fire nature of Kipnis or the unbridled enthusiasm of Lindor.
But Brantley showed what he is capable of with his breakout season of 2014, when he finished third in American League Most Valuable Player voting. Brantley became the first Indians player in the franchise’s 114-year history and the ninth in the majors to finish with at least 45 doubles, 20 homers, 20 steals and 200 hits. His 6.8 WAR that season makes him the only current player in the Tribe’s top 50 for a single season.
Brantley’s career .292 batting average is tied for the Tribe’s 35th all-time, unsurpassed among active players.
Indians General Manager Chris Antonetti told reporters in Arizona Wednesday that they had steeled themselves for Brantley to be out until mid-May and perhaps longer. Although acknowledging Brantley is “so far ahead of that,” Antonetti doesn’t want the Tribe to forget about the initial timetable.
There are reasons to ignore it.
The Indians haven’t had a winning April in Francona’s three seasons at the helm and have been over .500 only four times in the past 10 years.
The Indians should benefit from the acquisitions of first baseman Mike Napoli and third baseman Juan Uribe and rookie outfielder Tyler Naquin making the team, along with last season’s departures of Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher, but they still failed to spend for the big right-handed bat they’ve needed for years.
It seems unreasonable to think the Indians can contend for the division title by ranking 18th in the majors in runs as they did in 2015. Of their 669, Brantley accounted for 68 despite missing 10 of the last 12 games with the shoulder injury. He finished third on the team behind Kipnis (86) and Carlos Santana (72).
The Indians need more runs and more April victories. But they can’t jeopardize Brantley’s health this season to get them. Someone else must rise to the occasion.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.