The streets are barely clear of confetti after the championship parade in Kansas City, and the Indians have already been dealt a tough blow for their 2016 season.
The team announced Monday that outfielder Michael Brantley underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his non-throwing (right) shoulder. Brantley is expected to miss 5-6 months of baseball activity, meaning he will likely miss the first several weeks of the 2016 regular season and return in late April or May.
Brantley injured his shoulder diving for a ball in Minnesota Sept. 22. Eight days later, he was shut down for the remainder of the season. After the conclusion of the regular season, Brantley received an injection, underwent a two-week period that included shoulder stabilization exercises and then went through a hitting program.
The Indians had hoped that a rehabilitation program and rest in the offseason would be enough to heal the labrum in his shoulder, an injury that doesn’t always warrant surgery. After his symptoms persisted, Brantley was recommended for surgery by Dr. Craig Morgan, who performed the operation.
“When we saw his labrum tear, there was obviously some thought that surgery was going to be needed for it,” said James Quinlan, Indians head athletic trainer. “But we’ve seen in the past that a lot of guys have been able to get through it with conservative management.”
Playing through his various issues, as well as a brief left shoulder injury late in the year, Brantley hit .310 with 15 home runs, 45 doubles and 84 RBI last season. In 2014, he was a Most Valuable Player finalist, hitting .327 with 20 home runs, 45 doubles and 97 RBI.
In those two seasons, Brantley had combined for a 10.0 WAR, according to FanGraphs, good enough for a tie for second among qualified left fielders in that span with the New York Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes and behind only Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals.
“He’s unbelievable,” Quinlan said of Brantley being able to stay on the field in 2015. “He comes to the field every day and really works his tail off to play through everything and to play with injuries or soreness or things like that.”
Now, the Indians will likely need to plan to enter the 2016 regular season without him.
“I think we have to be prepared,” Quinlan said. “Our goal is to have him ready for the start of the season, obviously, but we need to be prepared for this to carry into April. And that depends on how the body responds.”
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians.