The Indians sent trainer Lonnie Soloff to talk to the media about Travis Hafner’s injury, and the report isn’t good. Hafner is in a walking boot and may require surgery, which would effectively end his season.
Hafner has suffered a strained peroneal tendon in “plantar aspect” of his right foot. They are currently seeking other medical options, which would keep Hafner from undergoing surgery until the season was finished. In other words, they are trying to find a way to minimize the pain in his foot so that he can function on the baseball field.
This does not sound like good news at all. At the very least, Hafner is out for the next two weeks, which are probably the biggest two weeks of the Indians’ season. The team could be out of the race altogether by the time Hafner would be ready to return.
In the past for seasons, injuries have prevented Travis from playing at least 95 games (less than 60% of the team’s games) three times, despite not playing a single game in the field. His production during this four year span- 45 home runs and 172 RBI.
Soloff did mention that Grady Sizemore could be ready to start taking batting practice with the team by the end of the week, if everything continues to progress. He would not put a time table on Sizemore’s rehab starts.
Currently the Indians have Sizemore, Hafner, Carrasco, Crowe and Kipnis on the DL. Shin Soo Choo is not with the team due to the birth of his child. Shelly Duncan has returned to the team.
