Cleveland Indians: The Unfortunate Parallel of Brantley and Sizemore

The Cleveland Indians recently brought Grady Sizemore to spring training as an assistant, while Michael Brantley’s status remains unknown.

In the past two days, we have published articles on both Grady Sizemore and Michael Brantley. The former joined the organization as an assistant in the player personnel department, while the latter continues to hopefully make progress toward a return to the field.

Sizemore had four great years in Cleveland, but his time may ultimately be remembered for the injury problems he faced from 2009 onward, stunting what could have been a special career.

The same fear may begin to arise about Brantley if he opens the season on the disabled list, although that happening wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. All signs currently point to him starting the season late, with the goal of him being held out until he is fully healthy.

But as fans remember with Sizemore, being declared fully healthy may not always lead to a player returning to his old self.

And yes, this take is a bit pessimistic, but the parallel is hard to ignore, especially now that Sizemore has returned to help the team.

The only option the Indians have now is to hold Brantley out for as long as necessary, allowing his shoulder to heal, thus avoiding any minor complications that could escalate into something major.

Sizemore can even serve as a mentor for Brantley, being able to share how he went through the process of constantly rehabbing and not being able to play in games.

It is too early to begin the doom and gloom mindset of Brantley never returning, but it is clear the team may not know the true status of his health. Shoulders are tough to deal with, as the pain can return after a single swing at the plate.

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For now, no panic can set it and Brantley must also be completely honest about how his shoulder feels. The best-case scenario seems to be a May or June return, when Brantley can show up and be a consistent force in the lineup for the remainder of the year.