Cleveland Sports Forum

Brantley could begin BP on field by weekend

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | 4:54 PM ET

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Michael Brantley continues to check off positive milestones in his march toward a return to the Indians' lineup.

On Monday morning, manager Terry Francona noted that Brantley's scheduled checkup with Dr. Craig Morgan on Sunday went as well as Cleveland could have hoped. Morgan, who performed the left fielder's right shoulder surgery in November, cleared Brantley to continue his hitting progression, which could include batting practice on the field by this weekend.

"It was all according to plan, which is all good," Francona said. "There's no red flags, nothing. He just got a really good report."

There is still no clear timetable for Brantley to make his Cactus League debut, and the expectation remains that the left fielder's comeback could linger into early April.

Francona indicated that the Indians discussed having Brantley play the outfield (with no at-bats) in Monday's "B" game against the Reds, but the outfielder preferred to stick with his morning workout. The manager said the team was fine with that approach, considering how diligent Brantley has been with his rehab, defense and batting cage work each day.

"He's worked really hard in the mornings," Francona said. "I had talked to him about, 'Hey, when you come back, we don't want you to be slowed down, because your legs are sore or something.' So he's worked really hard to make sure that won't happen."

Other items of note from Monday morning:

• Right-hander Shawn Armstrong struck out two in one shutout inning of relief against the Reds on Thursday, but it is not clear when the reliever will make his next appearance. Francona noted that Armstrong is currently dealing with right lat tightness, though the issue is not considered serious.

"Last year at this time, he had a little bit of lat tightness," Francona said. "He ran into the same thing the other day. He ended up finishing the inning, but it's Spring Training. I'm not sure we're real big on somebody trying to throw through that. We can eliminate that very easily, so we'll probably bump him back a couple days."

• Right-hander Zach McAllister, who was sent home with flu-like symptoms on Sunday, was still dealing with the issue on Monday. Francona said McAllister was scheduled to be examined at the complex, but the pitcher was instructed to stay home and rest for the remainder of the day.

"He's lost a bunch of weight," Francona said. "Hopefully he doesn't spread it. And then we'll figure out when he can pop back in there, but he's going to have to get some strength back."

• Veteran third baseman Juan Uribe served as the designated hitter in a "B" game on Monday morning against the Reds on the eve of his planned Cactus League debut, going 1-for-4 with a sun-assisted single. Francona said that Uribe is slated to be the designated hitter against the Mariners in Tuesday's home game "if everything goes OK" with Monday's game.

• Up to this point, Francona has given his position players starts in Cactus League games on alternating days. The manager said this week he will begin playing some of his regulars in consecutive games as the team continues to build towards Opening Day.

Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com.

Tyler Naquin's spray chart of every hit since 2013.

Lonnie Chisenhall managed his first hit of the spring on Monday and recorded his 3rd or 4th assist of the spring. Maybe he was a natural born RF but never knew it. I do hope that he can become a reasonably consistent hitter at last

Impressive spray chart for Naquin!

Yes it is, J.R.

There was a time when Chisenhall used to spray liners around for hits. Now it seems its pop ups and ground outs when he makes contact. What happened?

Trump headed to Rolling Meadows Illinois tonight. Says he was looking for JoeZ because he knows what's going on.

Gosh Seagull ! Don't say that ! Trump may ask me to support his program to "build the wall" around my Latino winter ball sites to keep all of the druggies out of the states.

Hillbilly wrote:Tyler Naquin's spray chart of every hit since 2013.

That's some serious sprayin'

I think Lonnie Chisenhall finally had a job lined up coming to spring training this year. He's been doing a fine job playing right field but is down there with Zach Walters in the offensive ineptitude department. One single and hit by a pitch in 16 plate appearances. 2 strikeout are not bad. 3 GIDP are bad. [Make that 3 strikeouts after his first AB of Sunday. Hit the ball all the way to the 1st baseman his next time up. 1-17 now, OPS .170]

If Brantley actually could start the season with the team, Rajai Davis who hasn't hit either might get the RF job. At most Chisenhall leaves camp as part of a platoon.

Checking the states, I see Davis is actually been worse, 1-19 with a walk and 8 strikeouts, OPS 153. Of course it's just spring training. But considering the quality of OF options, it would be nice if one of these guys was hitting well.

First cuts:



GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Indians made their first roster reductions of the spring, moving seven players prior to Monday's game against the Rangers.
Cleveland optioned right-handed pitcher Mike Clevinger, left-handers Ryan Merritt and Shawn Morimando and utility player Zach Walters to Triple-A Columbus while optioning righty Dylan Baker to Double-A Akron and assigning righties Adam Plutko and Will Roberts to Minor League camp.

"In general, we told the group of Clevinger, Merritt, Morimando, Baker and Plutko that they're all starters," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "And we told them ... basically, that their seasons aren't going to be defined by their three or four Spring Training innings. "Part of the reason they got sent out today is that they've got to get stretched out."

All five in that group impressed Francona and the rest of the Cleveland coaching staff. Clevinger is ranked No. 7 among Indians prospects by MLBPipeline.com. Plutko is No. 15, Morimando is No. 16, Baker is No. 25 and Merritt is No. 28.

"I think, as a group, those five pitchers ... it's rare, I think, when you get the five least-experienced guys that we never once had to say anything about work or routines," Francona said. "They were really solid. And my guess is that when they go to the other side, that will continue." [Baker didn't get into a game, and I didn't read about him doing any throwing; he's recovering from season-ending injury suffered on opening day each of the last 2 seasons.]

you may note that Terry said nothing about two of the demoted players:

Will Roberts, who is simply an organizational player and I'm not too sure why they brought him to camp.

Zach Walters whose days on the 40-man roster are clearly numbered.

Come for the scoreboard, stay for the craft beers...

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/6479266/v5 ... ded_player