Cleveland Indians: The similar paths of Brantley and Salazar

Cleveland Indians fans are seeing familiar situations when it comes to the health of both Michael Brantley and Danny Salazar.

The Cleveland Indians have two special players in Michael Brantley and Danny Salazar. The problem is that both are once again struggling to stay healthy.

The concept of being injury-prone is not one I necessarily agree with. Someone like Brantley can hurt his ankle on a fluke thing, or injure himself running into a wall. This is just bad luck as opposed to being predestined to being injured.

And when it comes to pitchers, all pitchers have likely dealt with arm injuries at one point or another in their careers. Those who haven’t either have perfect form and aren’t human, or they just deal with the pain for as long as possible.

Salazar is currently dealing with shoulder inflammation that leaves him unable to be ready for Opening Day. That is good news for Mike Clevinger, who was named to the rotation, but it already starts the team off on a bad foot, or shoulder in this case, for being at full strength to start the season.

The same goes for Brantley who is still recovering from ankle surgery. The team has continued to give out the usual vague updates, focusing more on him simply moving rather than giving details on his potential return. That makes sense because there may not be a firm date in mind, but it is the same story with the veteran once again.

There comes a point where fans begin to wonder if either player will ever be the same. We have entered the past few years with plenty of optimism, and both players have had recent success, only for an injury to ruin what could have been a fantastic season.

Brantley’s situation is a bit more in the spotlight because of the $12 million he is making this year, but Salazar is right up there making $5 million this year. $17 million on two injured players is not ideal, especially after letting so much talent walk this offseason.

This injury news helps slow down the optimism a bit, but it will be in the minds of fans until something newsworthy happens, whether that means a long-term injury or both players returning completely healthy for the entire season.

Next: Brantley, Kipnis, and baseball justice

It only being March helps keep the worries minimal. However, we are seeing a familiar story once again in 2018.