Cleveland Indians slugger Franmil Reyes to miss significant time with oblique strain

The Cleveland Indians will have to make do without Franmil Reyes in the lineup after the designated hitter suffered an oblique strain.

On Saturday, the Indians enjoyed a 5-3 victory over the Twins. Unfortunately, it came at a pretty high cost.

Designated hitter Franmil Reyes strained his oblique on a swing in the sixth inning. That strain will keep him out for five-to-seven weeks, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic.

Cleveland put Reyes on the injured list and promoted Owen Miller from Triple-A to fill his spot.

Losing Franmil Reyes is a huge blow to the Indians offense

It’s a shame for both the player and the team, given his strong start to the season. The two-run home run he hit in the first inning to put the Indians up early was his 11th of the year. He already has more bombs in 40 games than he managed in each of the last two seasons.

Cleveland has managed to build a 24-19 record, good for second place in the AL Central. That’s with a rather lackluster offense well below the league average in scoring. Jose Ramirez has hit 12 home runs, but Reyes is the only other power-hitter coming through for the team right now. Those two have been integral to the Indians‘ success.

There’s no replacing Reyes directly, so manager Terry Francona and his staff will have to figure out how to keep pace with the White Sox without that kind of weapon.

There will be great pressure on Miller to perform in his call-up. On the plus side, he was batting .406/.457/.609 with the Columbus Clippers this season at Triple-A level.

Unless he steps up or another solution appears, it could be a very long wait until July for Indians fans out there.