There are people who think the Cleveland Indians could be dark horse contenders in 2012, so long as they get some of their players playing to their upside. One of those players with upside is Grady Sizemore, who the Indians re-signed as a free agent in November. But Sizemore's recently been slowed by injuries, and now he's dealing with another one before even playing a game.

Nick Camino:

#Indians CF Grady Sizemore will "unlikely" be ready for Opening Day due to lower back strain.

— Nick Camino (@CaminoTribe) February 24, 2012

The fact of the matter is that a lower back strain is not particularly worrisome on its own. Even if it forces Sizemore to miss opening day, he could conceivably be active within a week or two of that, having missed very little time. This isn't a big blow to the Indians' hopes.

But there's that sense of "oh great here we go again" that one just can't deny. The Indians re-signed Grady Sizemore, and it's February, and he's hurt. This isn't how anybody wanted his 2012 to begin, except I guess the Tigers if the Tigers are pricks.

Michael Brantley would probably cover center while Sizemore is out. Fred Lewis, Ryan Spilborghs and Felix Pie are among the Indians' non-roster invitees this spring, so there's plenty of depth beyond Aaron Cunningham, Shelley Duncan and Ezequiel Carrera, who are already on the 40-man roster.