Thursday, May 31, 2012

Brantley's May and Overall 2012 #s

i'm not ever going to be able to just document Brantley's numbers without long-winded explanations am i? well let's get into it. as i've already blogged, Brantley was told on May 1 that that would be his final game as our regular leadoff hitter. from then on, Johnny Damon would join the club and be the leadoff man, a decision i myself can say i knew was going to be a fail from the jump. Brantley was still leading off in the games that Damon sat out, but those games would only be a few before Manny once again decided to change the leadoff situation.

those who remember, and check my April blog if you do not, know that Michael was finally starting to get himself turned around in the leadoff spot right before Manny made the first move. i felt it was irresponsible to rip Michael out of that spot and replace him with someone who hadn't even played Triple A ball yet. not to mention, Damon is not going to be on our team next year, unlike Brantley, so why make that move? when Damon was leading off, Brantley took over the 7th spot in the order. and after a forgivable adjustment period, he did fairly well in that spot. Manny said he liked Michael there because it'd give him RBI opportunities. so what happened next, as Michael is finally getting that batting average up? Manny realizes the Damon experiment is not working. and instead of letting Michael get back into the leadoff flow, Manny decided that Choo would be the better option.

Choo? why? because despite his struggles, he still had a high on base percentage apparently. since Choo's been leading off, he's been hitting well. i always say, if you have a guy hitting that well, you'd benefit having that bat lower in the order to drive in more runs. but Manny insists that Choo is perfect at the top cause he's an RBI guy. how's that now? and how does that differ from when Michael led off? your guesses are as good as mine.

now that Choo is leading off, Brantley, for the most part, bats 6th. when Hafner got a day off, he would bat 5th. and when Cabrera was out, he hit 2nd for a few games. when he first started batting 6th, his numbers were not good at all. did he need yet another adjustment period? i can't imagine it's easy to come in to work every day and honestly not know where you're going to be in the lineup after for the majority of your career you knew you were leading off. is it just coincidence or bad timing re: opponents that he doesn't hit as well in the 6th spot? i feel bad for him, and of course i would, but there's nothing that can be done about it now and he's just going to have to figure it out for himself.

and i know how Tribe fans are. they love the numbers. so nobody other than myself is going to look at Michael's May or April/May #s combined so far and cut him some slack. guy's been moved around so much, which he's not used to, and in baseball regularity/repetition does play an important part in the game. but the fans will look at the batting average and claim to be right about proclaiming that he's an average/mediocre player at best. it's unfortunate that he started the season out slow, but he improved a lot in May. his batting average jumped up .040 this month and he's currently riding a 9-game hitting streak. i think fans would agree that that is pretty damn good. and i expect improvement to continue.


now let's break down the numbers. i am going to document his May #s, the May leadoff/overall leadoff #s, the 7th spot #s, the 6th spot #s, the 5th spot #s, the 2 spot #s, and the #s of everything not leadoff combined. i will include his overall #s so far here as well. who else does this? #1 fan in the house lol


May batting average: .296

OBP: .308

SLG: .391

OPS: .699


Michael played in 29 (of 30) games in May. he started and played center in all 29 games.

Michael led off 4 games.

Michael bat 7th in 10 games.

Michael bat 6th in 9 games.

Michael bat 5th in 3 games.

Michael bat 2nd in 3 games.


in May, Michael had a total of 117 plate appearances and 115 at bats. here is how he fared:

34 hits

24 singles

9 doubles

1 triple

0 home runs

16 RBIs

15 runs scored

2 walks

10 strikeouts

7 stolen bases (caught stealing twice)

6 first at bat hits

May batting average: .296 (34-115)


now let's break down his numbers based on where he hit in the lineup.


when Michael led off in May, he had a total of 17 plate appearances and 17 at bats in 4 games.

3 hits

2 singles

1 double

1 RBI

2 runs scored

1 caught stealing

May batting average leading off: .176 (3-17)
overall batting average in the leadoff spot for 2012: .237 (22-93). (assuming he never bats there again.)


when Michael was not leading off in May, he had a total of 100 plate appearances and 98 at bats in 25 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

31 hits

22 singles

8 doubles

1 triple

0 home runs

15 RBIs

13 runs scored

2 walks

10 strikeouts

7 stolen bases (caught stealing once)

6 first at bat hits

May batting average everywhere other than lead off: .316 (31-98)


now let's break these non-leadoff numbers down even further.


when Michael bat 7th in May, he had a total of 41 plate appearances and 41 at bats in 10 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

14 hits

9 singles

5 doubles

0 triples

0 home runs

7 RBIs

4 runs scored

0 walks

3 strikeouts

0 stolen bases (caught stealing once)

4 first at bat hits

May batting average in the 7th spot: .341 (14-41)


when Michael bat 6th in May, he had a total of 35 plate appearances and 34 at bats in 9 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

8 hits

6 singles

2 doubles

0 triples

0 home runs

1 RBI

4 runs scored

1 walk

3 strikeouts

3 stolen bases

1 first at bat hit

May batting average in the 6th spot: .235 (8-34)


when Michael bat 5th in May, he had a total of 11 plate appearances and 11 at bats in 3 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

5 hits

4 singles

0 doubles

1 triple

0 home runs

1 RBI

1 run scored

0 walks

0 strikeouts

3 stolen bases

1 first at bat hit

May batting average in the 5th spot: .455 (5-11)


when Michael bat 2nd in May, he had a total of 13 plate appearances and 12 at bats in 3 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

4 hits

3 singles

1 double

0 triples

0 home runs

6 RBIs

4 runs scored

1 walk

2 strikeouts

1 stolen base

May batting average in the 2nd spot: .333 (4-12)


now my game-by-game numbers and notes.

Game 19/Game 1, May 1: 0-4, fielder's choice, caught stealing. AVG: .237
(leading off)
^^prior to this game, Michael was informed that Damon would be taking over the leadoff spot, and i have to believe that news affected his performance^^

Game 20/Game 2, May 2: 1-5, single, run scored. AVG: .235
(batting 7th)

Game 21/Game 3, May 3: 1-4, single (first at bat), run scored. AVG: .236
(batting 7th)

Game 22/Game 4, May 4: 1-3, single (first at bat), caught stealing. AVG: .239
(batting 7th)

Game 23/Game 5, May 5: 2-5, double, single, run scored. AVG: .247
(leading off)

Game 24/Game 6, May 6: 0-4. AVG: .238
(batting 7th)

Game 25/Game 7, May 7 (Day game): 2-4, RBI single (first at bat), 2-run double, run scored. AVG: .248
(batting 7th)

Game 26/Game 8, May 7 (Night game): 1-4, RBI single, run scored. AVG: .248
(leading off)

Game 27/Game 9, May 8: 0-4. AVG: .239
(batting 7th)

Game 28/Game 10, May 9: 0-3. AVG: .233
(batting 7th)

Game 29/Game 11, May 10: 4-5, double (first at bat), run scored, 2-run double, single, single. AVG: .256
(batting 7th)

Game 30/Game 12, May 11: 2-5, RBI single, RBI single. AVG: .262
(batting 7th)

Game 31/Game 13, May 12: 0-4. AVG: .254
(leading off)

Game 32/Game 14, May 13: 3-4, double, single, double. AVG: .269
(batting 7th)

Game 33/Game 15, May 14: 0-4. AVG: .261
(batting 6th)
^^this is the day Manny decided Damon would no longer be leading off, and neither would Michael. he will now bat 6th unless Travis Hafner is not in the lineup^^

Game 34/Game 16, May 15: 2-4, triple, single, stolen base. AVG: .268
(batting 5th)

Game 35/Game 17, May 16: 2-3, double, RBI single, walk. AVG: .276
(batting 6th)

Game 36/Game 18, May 17: 0-5. AVG: .267
(batting 6th)

Game 37/Game 19, May 18: 0-4. AVG: .260
(batting 6th)

Game 38/Game 20, May 19: 0-3. AVG: .255
(batting 6th)

Game 39/Game 21, May 20: 1-4, single, stolen base, run scored, fielder's choice, run scored. AVG: .255
(batting 6th)

Game 40/Game 22, May 22: 2-4, single, stolen base, run scored, single, stolen base. AVG: .261
(batting 6th)

Game 41/Game 23, May 23: 1-3, double. AVG: .262
(batting 6th)

Game 42/Game 24, May 24: 2-3, single (first at bat), single, stolen base, run scored. AVG: .269
(batting 5th)
^^this is the game in which Michael tweaked his left ankle after stealing 2nd base^^

May 25: not in lineup

Game 43/Game 25, May 26: 1-4, 3-run double, run scored. AVG: .269
(batting 2nd)

Game 44/Game 26, May 27: 2-5, RBI single, RBI groundout, single, run scored. AVG: .272
(batting 2nd)

Game 45/Game 27, May 28: 1-3, fielder's choice, walk, run scored, RBI single, stolen base, run scored. AVG: .273
(batting 2nd)

Game 46/Game 28, May 29: 1-4, fielder's choice RBI, stolen base, single. AVG: .273
(batting 5th)

Game 47/Game 29, May 30: 2-4, single (first at bat), run scored, single. AVG: .277
(batting 6th)
^^Michael ends the month on a 9-game hitting streak^^


so far in 2012, Michael has a total of 201 plate appearances and 191 at bats in 47 (of 50) games. in total, he has 53 hits, 36 singles, 15 doubles, 2 triples, 0 home runs, 21 RBIs, 26 runs scored, 10 walks, 18 strikeouts, and 9 stolen bases (4 caught stealing).

season batting average: .277 (53-191)

OBP: .313

SLG: .377

OPS: .690

Thursday, May 3, 2012

New Brantley Predictions

the more i think about things, the more i realize that my expectations for Michael this season will probably not be possible. when Grady comes back, if he's really healthy, then Brantley becomes the 4th or maybe 5th OF option. (i say maybe 5th because it's possible they put Duncan or Cunningham--if he's still here--in the lineup instead of Michael on certain days.) so after thinking things through and as i'm referencing my preseason expectations blog, i am going to make new predictions and lower my expectations a bit.

Brantley was 1-5 in his first game batting 7th last night, with a single and run scored. he had 2 very quick at bats when his first 2 opportunities came. (and it was funny that he ended up leading off both innings with those 2 at bats lol) i didn't need to actually watch him at the plate to know that he was basically "lost." he will need time to adjust to the pitches he's now going to see in that spot. and he will need time to get his mind right as i call it. can't blame the guy for being upset, but at some point he'll have to turn the switch because going up to bat being all pissed off is not going to be good for anybody, least of all himself.

(and this is how much i really think about the life of a baseball player... you tell someone that they're not going to be leading off anymore, and you do it on a road trip, so the guy is all alone in his hotel room and can't even go to his own home to his normal support system and vent and be comforted, that has got to be hard.)

i don't expect him to have a great average for May. that's just not realistic. it was going to take time to get his average up from last month even if he continued batting leadoff, but now i can see it stay around .240 for a little bit. and for the people that already don't have any confidence in Michael and think he's a bad player/bad center fielder/shouldn't be a starter/shouldn't be in the majors, that is not going to instill anymore confidence in the guy for them.

Michael is probably not going to have as many at bats now that he's lower in the lineup. there will be games where he only gets to bat 3 or 4 times, as opposed to 5. or if we're on a hitting tear, then he could potentially miss out on a 6th at bat as well. and as i said earlier, when Grady comes back, there will be a lot more off days for him. (anyone wanna disagree with me now that that isn't a hindrance in his development? in the development of a 24 year old who will be the only one of the three that's still here next year, so then people can start complaining that he's 25 and "still not a very good player" when he hasn't been given enough of a chance yet? =P) so based on that, and if Brantley stays healthy, i am going to predict his average for the season to be around .265.

i'm also gonna guess that he's not going to have as many opportunities to steal bases being that low in the order either. he will probably steal 10-15 max.

he can probably still hit 8-10 home runs.

the RBIs are the trickiest to predict. you would think that being lower in the order, when he goes up to bat that more people would be on base and he'd have more of an opportunity to drive guys in. but because Manny's order so far has been changing on the daily and is extremely odd at times, that may not be the case. therefore, i again am going to lower my original guess to 40-50.

as the season goes on, i am just envisioning Brantley's playing time becoming less and less. how can someone get better and reach his potential if other guys are continually put ahead of him? letting Grady play center when he was healthy last year was one thing, because Michael can man left field like nobody's business and i came to realize he was very valuable there. i complained, but i got over that. but pulling him out of the leadoff spot this year after only 17 games, (i say 17 because he only started in 17 games and the decision to demote him was made before the May 1st game), and thinking he's a bad leadoff man/assuming he would hit poorly all season, is illogical.

and i don't want anyone to misinterpret me here. i am all about the Tribe and doing whatever it takes to win. but as a huge Brantley fan, you know this saddens me. and i will proudly 'go to bat' and stick up for him. it doesn't sound like we'll ever get to see him be the leadoff center fielder he was projected to be. nobody ever should have said that. cause if they hadn't, i probably would not be as enraged about things. right now he's simply a backup. maybe that's all they really wanted from that CC deal in 2008 =/

maybe i'm wrong though. and if he does better than all my guesstimates, that'd be great. maybe now that he's batting 7th, he can eventually view it not as "they have no faith in me," but more like "the pressure's off me now." maybe he will relax and start hitting more and get that average right back up to where i think it should be.

at least i got him to autograph my baseball card right out the gate. that was the easiest call to make; no way i wouldn't get it at some point this year. the next game i go to (in 2 days), if he's in the lineup, i really want to make him smile at the baseline before the game. i've done it before, so here's hoping i can do it again.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

19 Games Played and Now the Adversity Begins

so i just wrote an April wrap-up for Brantley and his numbers and his progression. and i felt pretty good about things. but then today i read he will not be the leadoff man anymore when Johnny Damon is in the lineup. and now i'm disturbed. i really shouldn't have been surprised though. the Indians clearly aren't serious about letting Michael develop as a leadoff man. this is technically his 4th season as part of the Indians, and up til this point, he's really only been the leadoff man by default.

who remembers in 2009, before Michael's September call up, all the writers and scouts and others who said Brantley was going to be like a Kenny Lofton, our future leadoff center fielder? even after that, people continued to say he would be our future leadoff man. i cannot forget that and it ticks me off because i believed it and now it just doesn't seem to be true. guess these people didn't know that Mr. Manny Acta would view things differently. after all, this is a manager who makes very questionable decisions at times. and this specific quote from him makes me angry because it is hypocritical:
 
"Listen, I just want to put the best team on the field that gives me a chance to win," said Acta. "I'm not here trying to keep people happy or fulfilling people's agendas."

but i digress. i'm upset and sad for Michael. he always says he loves leading off, he likes to set the table and wreak havoc on the basepaths. but apparently the Indians do not feel that he's earned that right indefinitely. and he's not going to be happy about this (he wasn't last year), nor should he be.

in the past, he's had to take a backseat to (a broken down) Grady. i was so happy when we did not pick up Grady's option in the offseason. i was so happy for Michael because i knew he was finally going to get his chance to shine. and it should have happened a lot sooner than this. i was excited for the season that was to come. but then i was devastated when we re-signed Grady because i knew it meant Michael once again was not going to bat leadoff or play center. literally my heart dropped when i saw that bit of info on the Plain Dealer site. can't lie and say i wasn't selfishly glad when Grady got hurt again. (i didn't like bringing him back also because i just don't think he's got anything left in the tank. waste of 5 million in my book.) so then Brantley was guaranteed the leadoff and center field spot, once again by default and not because he earned it. but i was willing to accept that. just take it however you get it.

then the Beltran rumors began. and there was speculation that if he signed with us, Michael was going to either be on our bench, or they would send him back down to Columbus to get regular playing time. i can't even process how i would have handled that had it happened. thanks Carlos for thinking we're too crappy a team and not wanting to play here.

then we acquired Damon. i thought this was going to be a great thing. and then Manny drops the bomb today that he will leadoff every time he's in the lineup. give me a break. he may have good numbers as a leadoff man, but he's got more power than Michael, so he's the better candidate to bat lower in our weak order. Brantley won't serve any purpose down there. he's not going to hit many home runs. let Damon bat down there and drive in runs.

aside from being angry that Michael again is taking a backseat to an older guy, my other concern is this is going to hinder Brantley's progress. he said he sees different pitches when he bats lower in the order. he has to make adjustments. and i think this is going to mess with the nice flow he seemed to recently get going. he was getting leadoff hits and hitting well as of late. now he'll need time to readjust and i imagine his batting average will waver. this puts him in a difficult spot if he's going to be leading off one day and then the next day he's batting 7th or 9th. that would be hard for anyone i'd imagine, having to change your mindset and approach at the plate every other day. and again, considering he is not new to the team/majors, i don't think that's right.

i just want the Tribe to commit to Brantley, kind of like how they've committed to Kipnis. doesn't matter what that kid does, he's guaranteed to be our 2nd baseman and has his place on the team. and he doesn't even have a full year here yet. i don't wanna hear stuff like 'if we bring in this guy, Brantley's the 4th option off the bench' or whatever. it's not fair. if he's our future, that's ridiculous. he has the skills to be a great leadoff man, but he has yet to be the leadoff hitter because they believe he's the best one for the job. by now he should have had a full year leading off, but he does not. they don't give him a chance to play consistently and show everyone what he's got. if Grady's not hurt and Damon's in the lineup, Brantley's now the 3rd option. i don't like that they treat him this way and if it continues, he will be gone the first chance he gets. and i wouldn't blame him.

how much longer can you refer to someone as "your future" when he's been in the organization now for a few years? makes no sense. the future should be now. not "well maybe next year." what's he gotta do to earn anyone's respect? how can he prove himself if other guys will always be put ahead of him? i feel so bad that this keeps happening to him. and as his self-proclaimed #1 fan, of course i would feel that way and have these concerns. i don't expect anyone to agree with me or really even care, but my point here should be pretty clear and i'm not changing my opinions and won't apologize for my feelings on this matter. some of the people who know me very well have joked that i should just be Michael's manager with the way i always talk about him and his career like i do. well believe me, if i was his manager i would not tolerate this.


so that leaves us with the question, when Grady comes back, who is going to bat leadoff then? Grady feels most comfortable batting leadoff, and despite what Manny said in the quote above, Manny has always catered to his needs to make him happy. 30 year old G and 38 year old Damon will probably have to battle it out lol and poor 25 year old Michael, the youngest potential candidate with the most upside, will be the backup backup option. and he's the only one of those three who will still be on this team next year. really makes ya think, doesn't it? smh.