CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians have activated outfielder Michael Brantley from the 10-day disabled list and optioned outfielder Tyler Naquin to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers.
The Indians (2-4) announced the move ahead of the 2018 home opener against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field.
Brantley has been plagued by injuries for the better part of the last three seasons, and was hampered so badly by an ankle sprain suffered last August that he underwent surgery to stabilize the ligaments in November.
A two-time American League All-Star in his nine-year career with the Indians, Brantley underwent the procedure on his right ankle in the days following the team’s elimination from the 2017 Major League Baseball Playoffs, and was expected to need four to five months of recovery before resuming full baseball activity.
Brantley had the arthroscopic surgery done in Charlotte by Dr. Robert Anderson to stabilize ligaments in his right ankle, which he severely sprained in August while tracking down a ball in the outfield and spent seven weeks out of the lineup while the injury healed.
Over the last two years, Brantley has missed 223 out of a possible 324 games.
Healthy for the first time in nearly three years after back-to-back injury-shortened seasons, Brantley returned to his All-Star form over the first half of 2017 and smacked 69 hits in 228 at-bats (.303 batting average) with 15 doubles, five home runs, 31 runs batted in, 27 runs scored, 22 walks against 37 strikeouts and eight stolen bases.
Brantley ranked in the Indians’ top 10 in nearly every offensive category at the time of his selection to the MLB All-Star Game.
Brantley finished the 2017 regular season with a .299 batting average, 20 doubles, one triple and nine home runs with 52 RBI, 47 runs scored and 101 hits in 338 at-bats. He registered 31 walks against 50 strikeouts and had a .444 slugging percentage.
In the postseason, Brantley went just one for 11 with one walk against four strikeouts as the Indians lost to the New York Yankees in five games in the 2017 American League Division Series.
Naquin had two hits, including one home run, with two runs batted in and a pair of walks against five strikeouts in 14 plate appearances over five games with the Indians this season.
