The timetable on how long manager Terry Francona will give Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley occasional days off as he did Sunday against Chicago s left hander Derek Holland will be based on common sense. Kipnis and Brantley are recovering from shoulder injuries with Brantley s being the more extensive of the two.

There s nothing concrete, said Francona Josh Tomlin Jersey, referring to Kipnis. It will be kind of what we did with Brantley . A lot of it will be based on how he feels.

I knew coming in that he played only two games in spring training. He played in a handful of rehab games before he came here. It s more common sense than anything else. He feels really good. The idea is to keep him feeling really good, while he builds his endurance in games.

Francona said that s why communications between players, manager, coaching staff and training staff is so important.

Brantley and Kipnis were in the starting lineup against Houston left hander Dallas Keuchel in Tuesday s 4 2 loss. Brantley underwent season ending surgery on his right shoulder in August because of an injured biceps tendon. Kipnis had only five at bats in Cactus League games in spring training because of a strained right rotator cuff. He came off the disabled list Friday in Chicago when the Indians opened a three game series against the White Sox.

We re not going to rest him unless we think it s in his best interest because he s a good player, said Francona. But we can t be afraid to do that either.

Tuesday was the Indians 19th game. Brantley, including Tuesday, has made 15 starts and appeared in 16 games. After playing 11 games last year Chris Gimenez Jersey, Brantley is hitting .310 18 for 58 with three homers Jason Kipnis Jersey, 11 doubles and a .902 OPS.


Michael Brantley looks like the old Michael Brantley again
Francona took no credit for the way Brantley has started the season.

I think he s responded really well because he worked hard, said Francona. He s in great shape and he s done a terrific job.

I don t think it s because of the way we ve done it. We just tried to use some common sense with him. I think he deserves a ton of credit for putting himself in a position to play as much as he is.

Power up Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor lead the Indians with five homers each. The Indians, Baltimore and Kansas City are the only AL teams with two players with at least five homers.

Everybody is making a big thing about Lindor s launch angle, said Francona. His swing is the same. Now he s got about 1,000 at bats under his belt. Now when they make a mistake, he knows what to do with it.

Testing Yan Gomes Jersey, testing Last year Brandon Guyer played a big role in the Indians winning the AL Central and reaching Game 7 of the World Series.

Guyer, acquired from Tampa Bay on Aug. 1, hit .336 41 for 122 with six homers, 17 RBI and a 1.021 OPS against lefties for the season. In the postseason, he hit .333 6 for 10 with three RBI.

This year he s hitting .174 4 for 23 with one homer and two RBI against lefties. He went into Tuesday night s game hitting .600 6 for 10 against Keuchel, but went 0 for 4.

He s gotten stuck on the backside of his swing , said Francona. Even when he s getting in hitter s counts fastballs have beat him. The other day in Chicago Sunday , I think he had two 3 1 counts and he flew out to right. He was mad because he knew he should have done something with those pitches .


Terry Francona explains why Brandon Guyer is off to a slow start
He ll be fine. It s a little bit of a timing thing. He ll figure it out and when he does, he ll be every bit as dangerous as he has been.

Finally Francona has used 15 lineups in the first 18 games of the season. ... Happy birthday to third base coach Mike Sarbaugh and bullpen catcher Ricky Pacione. ... Houston placed outfielder Jake Marisnick on the seven day concussion disabled list before Tuesday s game and recalled outfielder Teoscar Hernandez from Class AAA Fresno.