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Cleveland Indians outfielder Michael Brantley out four to five months after ankle surgery

Cleveland Indians outfielder Michael Brantley will resume full baseball activity in four to five months after undergoing ankle surgery Wednesday.
Cleveland Indians outfielder Michael Brantley will resume full baseball activity in four to five months after undergoing ankle surgery Wednesday.

CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Indians outfielder Michael Brantley underwent surgery on his right ankle Wednesday afternoon and will resume full baseball activity in four to five months, the team announced Thursday morning.

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 was out of the lineup for seven weeks ahead of the 2017 Major League Baseball playoffs.

Along with shortstop Francisco Lindor, Brantley was named an American League reserve for the 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which was played on July 11 at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida.

It was Brantley’s second appearance in the Mid-Summer Classic as a representative of the Indians, and he got one hit in two at-bats.

Healthy for the first time in nearly three years after back-to-back injury-shortened seasons, Brantley returned to his All-Star form 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.

At that point, Brantley ranked in the Indians’ top 10 in nearly every offensive category. However, Brantley missed seven weeks late in the season because of the sprained right ankle and 72 games overall due to a variety of issues in 2017.

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 against the New York Yankees, who defeated the Indians in five games in the 2017 American League Division Series.

Over the last two years, Brantley has missed 223 out of a possible 324 games.

Brantley is due to make $12 million in the 2018 season if the Indians pick up their option on the 30-year old outfielder.

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