The Cleveland Indians are currently 65-65, in 3rd place in the AL Central, 6.5 games out of the playoffs. This is quite a fall for a team that started the year by going 18-8 in April and 14-12 in May. Since their great start however, Cleveland has been dropping in the standings and losing players to injury left and right. Even the trade deadline acquisition of Ubaldo Jimenez couldn’t stem the tide of defeats. Now, perhaps the biggest blow of all is the loss of outfielder Michael Brantley for the duration of the season. Brantley will have surgery on his right hand at some point in the next few days.
Brantley’s season numbers will end with a .266 batting average, 7 HRs, 46 RBI, and 13 steals. As of today, he his 3rd on the team in ABs behind All-Star Asdrubal Cabrerea and catching phenom Carlos Santana, 2nd in hits, 3rd in doubles, and 3rd in batting average among starters. To this point, Brantley has been a catalyst in the offense and a model of consistency while fellow o...
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