Cleveland Indians: Hoping for the best for Michael Martinez

Cleveland Indians fans don’t necessarily love Michael Martinez, but it still stinks to hear the news about his potentially career-ending injury.

Michael Martinez has never been a fan favorite. In fact, a lot of Cleveland Indians fans cry out in pain when he appears on a lineup card or his name is merely spoken.

No matter how many times he was let go, Martinez always found his way back to Cleveland. That remained true this year with another invitation to Spring Training.

But plans have changed due to an injury.

Six months of rehab means Martinez would be available to return during the regular season, but his chances of making the major league roster were already slim. He provided depth in the organization and was a reliable veteran, even if he wasn’t very good.

But this type of injury at the age of 35 could mean Martinez’s career is over after a busy few years in the majors.

There are those out there who will say “good” when seeing this injury news, and those people are the same ones who likely think that baseball games are too long and who go to Dollar Dog Night and eat the hot dogs without any condiments. What is wrong with those people?

I am not saying fans should be weeping over this news, but no one should be happy to see Martinez go down with this injury. Any injury to the legs of a professional athlete is never good to see.

Martinez will always be associated with making the final out in the 2016 World Series, but he is not the sole cause of the loss. If you need to blame something, blame the rain.

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We don’t know if the veteran will be back in 2018, or ever again. The good news is that he does have a timetable for a return, so maybe he’ll come back and lead the Columbus Clippers to a championship. Or maybe, just maybe, he’ll help the Indians late in the season.