CLEVELAND, OH – Indians closer Brad Hand won’t be available for their pivotal weekend series against the Twins.
Hand’s MRI came back clean on Wednesday, but the team is going to take it slow, in hopes of him getting back to his early season form, when he was arguably the best closer in the game.
“He’s going to throw again on Sunday,” manager Terry Francona said. “When he picks up a ball again, we want him to feel great. He’s kinda chomping at the bit, which is a great sign, but the medical people really feel strongly that if we want him to be good, this is the way to do it.”
Hand admitted his arm wasn’t recovering the way it’s supposed to, which led to his struggles on the mound. He has a 6.00 ERA in his last 19 appearances. The timing isn’t great, as the Indians enter play Friday 3½ games behind the Twins in the AL Central and a game behind Oakland for the top Wild Card spot.
“Sometimes you have to just sit back and abide by their [medical staff] knowledge and respect that,” Francona said.
Hand is second in the American League with 34 saves this season. He was hoping his arm would come around, but he says treatment wasn’t helping the way everyone had hoped.
“We tried to treat it [arm] a little bit, but it just wasn’t bouncing back,” Hand said. “I haven’t played catch for a few days now, just trying to give it a little break. It hadn’t felt great for some time. I was trying to grind through it. I felt OK, but I should feel great. I hadn’t been pitching that often.”
Hand only allowed one run from April 15-June 20, posting a 0.36 ERA in 25 appearances. There aren't many players who can hit him consistently when he's pitching like he was earlier in the season.
The Indians hope rest and treatment can help Hand get back to that level before the end of the season.
