Cleveland Indians: Michael Brantley Has Been a Disappointment in 2016

After yet another setback, Michael Brantley looks like he will provide the Cleveland Indians with no value in 2016

Way back before the season and spring training started, Michael Brantley underwent an operation on his shoulder last October. The initial hope was that he would be back with the Cleveland Indians during May or at the very worst June. Brantley proceeded to make large leaps of progress, and he even suggested that he might be ready for Opening Day. While he missed this target, he was able to rejoin the Cleveland Indians about a month into the season, which was still light-years ahead of the initial schedule. 

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This good news, however, quickly became just the opposite. Brantley appeared in only 11 games and was pretty much a nonfactor during that time. Instead of looking like the Most Valuable Player candidate he was in 2014, he batted a measly .231 with almost no power of which to speak. He managed to be somewhat of a help in the outfield, but truly he was not an improvement over the ragtag team that had filled in for him. Although his ambition to recover as soon as possible was admirable, it appeared that it may have been a bit too early for the lefty to make an impact at the major league level.

Then, things took a turn for the worse. His injury began acting up a bit more, and he landed back on the disabled list. Reports surfaced that he could miss significant time with his shoulder injury, and the decision to rush his arrival looked even rasher. The team gave no timetable for his return.

In a slight glimmer of positivity, the outfield had actually transformed from a source of concern into a surprise strength. When I first touched on the subject in late June, I noted that the outfield had actually become one of the better bunches in the American League. At the time, it appeared that the success could be short-lived, and Michael Brantley still appeared to have an integral role in the Tribe’s outfield success for 2016.

A month after that, I revisited the matter and noted that the outfield had continued to be great despite many doubts and concerns. As things currently stand, the outfield is quite possibly even better than at my last revisit despite the group being a bunch of misfits. The unit currently has the fourth most Wins Above Replacement by FanGraphs’ count and the fifth best run creation rate in baseball.

Even with how great the Cleveland Indians’ outfield has been so far, it could be much better if it featured a healthy Michael Brantley. Now, Chris Antonetti has said that Brantley could require more surgery on his right shoulder, which would effectively end his season. The outfielder had attempted a surgery to reduce the scar tissue in his shoulder a week or so ago, but the pain returned in recent efforts to swing a bat with greater force.

Even if Brantley does not require the surgery, he will miss even more time and only compound this year’s failures. He entered the season with the best of intentions to help the team achieve greatness, but he has done nothing to even come close to being a part of the team’s success. If anything, the constant reports of improvements that only lead to further setbacks have done nothing but hamper the Indians’ ability to effectively plan for his absence. Fortunately, the outfield has been excellent without the former All-Star, but it still could have benefited from a bigger addition than Joey Butler.

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At this point, the best thing for the Cleveland Indians and Michael Brantley would be to set their sights on a healthy return in 2017. He still has a year and an option left on his contract, meaning that there is no reason for him to attempt another return this year and risk further harm to his body. If he can find a way to heal and stay healed before spring training, then he can be of great importance to the team next year. Sure, it will mean writing off 2016; but at this point, it might be best to simply rid the team of the distraction.