Report: Indians worried Brantley will miss significant time

The first-place Cleveland Indians could be without Michael Brantley for much longer than initially anticipated, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported Monday that the club has "serious concern" its ailing star outfielder will miss significant time with a lingering shoulder injury.

The report comes just days after manager Terry Francona said Brantley was making progress in his recovery from inflammation in his surgically repaired non-throwing shoulder. On Friday, Francona told reporters the former All-Star was expected to soon graduate from tee work to soft-toss swinging, but that a timetable for his rehab assignment had yet to be determined.

Shortly after Passan's report, Indians president Chris Antonetti said there was nothing new to announce regarding Brantley, who's been on the disabled list since May 14.

"We are focused on working with Michael to help him get to the point where he's not only healthy, but strong enough to make a meaningful impact on the balance of our season," Antonetti told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. "We don't have a clear timetable for that yet but are encouraged by progress he continues to make."

It's been a frustrating start to the season for Brantley, who began the year on the DL while recovering from offseason surgery to repair a labral tear in his left shoulder. He was activated April 25, but hit just .231/.279/.282 over 11 games since returning.

The news comes just as the surging Indians were climbing up the standings. Cleveland's won five in a row to move to a season-high seven games above .500 and into first place in the AL Central. Cleveland was already down two of its outfielders from the Opening Day roster after Abraham Almonte (80 games) and Marlon Byrd (162) were suspended for PED violations.