CLEVELAND -- On paper, the Cleveland Indians have a lot of depth in the outfield, but baseball games are never played on paper, and two of those names, Michael Brantley and Brandon Guyer, are still working their ways back from injuries suffered during the 2017 season.
Should the Indians have to put Brantley (right ankle surgery) and fellow Guyer (left wrist extensor tendon) on the disabled list to start the season, they have signed a couple of insurance policies, in Melvin Upton and Rajai Davis.
“The one thing we told Brant was, ‘Everybody points to Opening Day, for obvious reasons. I get it,’ but in his case, (Brandon) Guyer’s case, it’s really just another day,” manager Terry Francona said. “We need to be good enough and deep enough where we can handle them not being ready on time because what we want to do is get them back and have a chance for them to be themselves.
“When we got Guyer, man he was a force, and we missed that last year. As bad as they want to be ready for Opening Day, if it’s two or three weeks later and they have a chance to be who they are, that’s what we would shoot for. Same thing for Brant, and he knows that.”
Upton did not play at the Major League level in 2017, but is a lifetime .243 hitter with .321 on-base and .402 slugging percentages in 1,469 games over his 12 years in the league with the Tampa Bay Rays (2004, 2006-2012), Atlanta Braves (2013-2014), San Diego Padres (2015, 2016) and Toronto Blue Jays (2016).
In addition to his averages, Upton has stolen 300 bases in 392 career attempts.
“I told you guys at TribeFest, it wouldn’t surprise me if he came in and really showed well,” Francona said. “I just think he’s in a good place and wants to go out and prove that he can help a team win.”
With the Indians in 2016, Davis hit 23 doubles, two triples and 12 home runs with an American League-best 43 stolen bases in 495 trips to the plate during the regular season, and he belted a memorable game-tying home run off of Chicago Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman late in Game 7 of the World Series.
Between the Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox last year, Davis hit .235 with 19 doubles, two triples and five home runs, scored 56 runs and stole 29 bases.
“Getting Raj back was pretty exciting,” Francona said. “I kind of told him when he walked in, ‘Welcome home.’
“We’ll kind of get these guys ready. We’ll turn them loose, and we’ll make our evaluations, and then, when it’s time, we’ll figure out how best our club works. We don’t want to put the cart ahead of the horse. We just want to get these guys going. If they play well, believe me we’ll figure it out.”
