Indians' Brantley running, could play later this week

CLEVELAND (AP) - Michael Brantley's chances of playing in the postseason for the Cleveland Indians have taken a surprising turn.

The All-Star outfielder, who has been sidelined since Aug. 9 with a sprained ankle ligament and seemed destined to sit out his second straight playoff run, did some running Wednesday and manager Terry Francona said there's a possibility Brantley could be playing in games last this week.

Brantley took part in a simulated game before the Indians hosted the Minnesota Twins. Brantley has been steadily increasing his workload, a positive sign after it appeared he would have no chance to help the AL Central champions in October.

"Brant is working up to where, Thursday, Friday-ish, he's going to try to get out there and we'll see where he's at and see if he's able to get in a game and kinda go from there," Francona said. "He's definitely building towards that. We're trying to give him every chance possible so we can make a good decision. He'll be included in that."

Cleveland has several decisions to make with its postseason roster, and one of the biggest involves Brantley.

The 30-year-old was sidelined during the Indians' run to the World Series last year following two shoulder surgeries. Brantley worked hard to return and was having a strong comeback season before he went down while tracking a flyball on Aug. 8. Brantley initially thought he tore his Achilles tendon.

Brantley, who visited a specialist last week in Vail, Colorado, was batting .299 with nine homers and 52 RBIs in 88 games. In July, he was voted to the All-Star team by players.

The Indians also had a positive development with rookie center fielder Bradley Zimmer, who recently underwent surgery to fix his broken left hand. Zimmer is injured on Sept. 10 while diving headfirst into first base.

Zimmer had his stitches removed and Francona said the speedy center fielder is progressing nicely. Zimmer had a huge impact in his first season, but remains a longshot to make the team's postseason roster.

"He could run the bases," said Francona, adding Zimmer's overall health will be the priority. "We're more pointed towards getting him healthy. And his normal progression, you're going to see him in a couple weeks start to probably grip a bat, things like that, that's more important. You never say never, but I don't think that (the playoffs) is what the goal is right now."