SAN DIEGO -- Left-hander Brady Aiken, the Indians’ No. 1 pick in 2015, may be finished as a pitcher.

The Tribe paid Aiken a signing bonus of $2.5 million but he has barely pitched over the last two seasons.

“He’s not playing right now,” said Chris Antonetti, Indians president of baseball operations. "He’s taken some time away from the game. I’m not sure we know if he’s going to come back next spring.”

The Indians used their No. 1 pick in 2015 to select Aiken even though he was coming off Tommy John surgery on his left elbow. Houston used the overall No. 1 pick in in the 2014 draft to select Aiken out of high school. They agreed on a $6.4 million signing bonus, but Houston backed out of the deal because it was worried about the condition of Aiken’s elbow. They tried to renegotiate, but a deal couldn’t be reached.

“I think it’s just been a really hard path for him," said Antonetti, when asked if Aiken’s inability to regain his velocity was the reason he stepped away from the game. "It’s a combination of injuries and struggles performance wise. He put in a lot of effort to try and get back and be able to compete. He hasn’t been able to get to that point yet. He’s reassessing his future.”

When asked what message the Indians have sent to Aiken, Antonetti said, “We’re here to help any way we can to support him to get back on the field.”

Aiken pitched two-thirds of an inning in 2019 at Class A Lake County before being sent back to spring training in Goodyear, Ariz. He did not pitch at all in 2018 as the Indians worked with him in Goodyear to try and revamp his delivery and rediscover his velocity. Aiken, 23, went 5-13 with a 4.77 ERA in 27 starts at Lake County in 2017. He appeared in 14 games in 2016, going 2-5 with a 5.83 ERA.

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