CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Starter Cal Quantrill is getting closer to returning to the Guardians rotation.
“I feel real good. I think I'm officially healthy,” Quantrill said Friday afternoon. “I’m throwing the ball, but as good as I've thrown it all year and pain free finally and I’m pretty excited to get back. It’s been a long time since it was fun to pitch and throw baseballs and now I’m ready to go again.”
Quantrill was back in the clubhouse after a quick trip to Arizona earlier this week.
“He will pitch in Akron on Sunday,” manager Terry Francona said. “Then he’ll go with us to Kansas City and we will figure out from there what to do.”
Quantrill, who landed on the injured list on June 2 with right shoulder inflammation, had hoped to jump right back into the rotation but the organization wanted him to make at least one rehab appearance.
“I pushed pretty hard to, [but] I wanted it to be just the very minimum 15 days,” Quantrill said. “I think that this approach is probably, at least it’s what we believe is the thing that’ll allow me to start all the way through October. So I’m just kind of following directions.”
In 11 starts this season Quantrill is 2-4 with a 5.61 ERA. He’s struck out 34 but walked 20.
“I feel great. I feel great,” Quantrill said. “This is the best I've felt since middle of last year.”
Brennan on the mend – Outfielder Will Brennan should be back in the lineup by the end of the weekend after playing catch Friday and continuing a lot of aquatic treatment.
“I should hopefully be back tomorrow or if not tomorrow, then Sunday,” Brennan told 92.3 The Fan.
Brennan jammed his left shoulder in the top of the fourth inning after robbing A’s third baseman Jace Peterson with a diving catch while running back and to his right near the warning track Wednesday night.
“My left arm just slid under my body when just trying to make the catch and just kind of [my] full body weight landed on my left shoulder and maybe shifted around in there a little bit, but definitely kind of jammed it,” Brennan said.
3-4 punch – Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor are a big reason why the Guardians have a pulse again offensively.
Ramirez, who typically hits third in the lineup, is hitting .410 with five home runs and 15 RBI since June 6.
“I try to do the best I can to kind of give [Ramirez] some help. He does so much for this team and for this organization, helps us get so many wins throughout the year,” Naylor said. “And if I can let him relax a little bit and take a little bit of pressure off of his bat and do things myself, I think it would just make him feel better, put less pressure on him to do everything for us. He’s such a phenomenal player and we rely on him so much, but if we, as the rest of the eight hitters, kind of do our part, take less pressure off him and he’ll just continue to thrive for us.”
Naylor has hit safely in 16 of 20 games with 11 multi-hit games since May 30 to raise his average from .235 to .290.
Second opinion – Starter Triston McKenzie is expected to get a second opinion on his right elbow early next week.
“We’re putting that together,” Francona said. “Pretty good chance it’ll happen at the beginning of this come upcoming week. And when we do put it all together, I’ll share it with you guys. We’re just kind of in the process now.”
McKenzie was placed back on the injured list with inflammation in his right elbow following the two starts he made after returning from a 60-day IL stint as the result of a right shoulder muscle strain.
Take a breath – Francona is a master of reading his clubhouse, which is why he had them skip batting practice Friday and come to the ballpark a little later than usual.
Second baseman Andres Gimenez also is getting the night off for the opener against the Brewers and Tyler Freeman is starting in his place.
“I thought our whole team was kind of tired yesterday,” Francona said. “That’s why we backed off the BP today and just doing defensive work. After this coming day off on Monday, we play right up till the All-Star break and I want to get Freeman in. There’s certain games where I feel like it’s good for him to play. Tonight was one of them.”
Warming up – The Guardians look for a season-high fifth consecutive win Friday night against Milwaukee. Cleveland has won 11 of 17 and 14 of their last 23 to climb within a game of first place Minnesota in the AL Central.
