Monday, April 13, 2015
Associated Press
CLEVELAND
Yan Gomes hobbled toward home plate on crutches to accept an award.
Sadly, Cleveland’s catcher won’t be getting back there anytime soon.
Gomes could be out of the Indians’ lineup for two months with a sprained right knee ligament, an injury that dealt an early blow to a team expected to contend this season.
Gomes, one of the Indians’ best players, sustained a moderate sprain of the medial collateral ligament on a play at the plate Saturday. The team expects him to be out at least six weeks. An MRI at the Cleveland Clinic on Sunday revealed the sprain.
“Anytime you lose him for any amount of time it’s not good,” Indians manager Terry Francona said after the Indians lost 8-5 to Detroit, which completed a three-game sweep. “In the really big picture, it could have been worse. This is about what we thought after talking to the trainers last night.”
Gomes’ leg was jolted by Detroit’s Rajai Davis, who slid hard on a force play and clipped the catcher’s right leg as he was extended like a first baseman making a catch.
Before Sunday’s game Gomes was placed on the 15-day disabled list and it wasn’t too long afterward that he teammate Michael Brantley, who missed his fourth game with a back issue, were on the field receiving their Silver Slugger Awards from 2014.
It was a tough sight for the Indians.
“We’ve got some guys who are more than qualified to step in and take up their roles,” second baseman Jason Kipnis said. “But it’s hard to replace two Silver Sluggers and two leaders of this team.”
Not having Gomes in the lineup or behind the plate weakens the Indians, who went 85-77 last season and were in the playoff hunt until the season’s final weekend.
Gomes is the club’s top right-handed power hitter and a solid defensive player. Last season, he led all AL catchers in average (.278) and extra-base hits (49). He was second in RBIs (74) and homers (21) and handled one of baseball’s youngest starting staffs.
“I think I used the word with Gomer a lot of times this spring where you like your catcher to be indispensable,” Francona said. “I think that’s a pretty big compliment to Gomer.”