Thursday, May 2, 2013

Brantley's April 2013 #s

if you read my spring training blog, then you already know i have gotten more thorough with my Brantley documentation this year. after a few trial and errors, i figured out a color coding system that i'm pretty happy with and my notebook is filling up quickly. however, to keep a normally long blog somewhat less lengthy, i'm not putting everything here. i don't think the readers are very interested in the pitch count of all Michael's at bats and what innings he bat in, recorded his putouts, etc. so i'm sparing you that. now without further ado, let's get to the April blog.


this month reminded me of last April in that i am starting to notice a pattern with Brantley. aside from 2011, he usually starts the season slow. and when the end of April comes around, that's when he seems to turn it up and make his April numbers more respectable. this year is no exception, as you will see.

Michael had a hit in 16 of the 23 games he played in April and reached base safely in 21 games. Michael reached base in 14 straight games this month from April 8 - April 27 as well.

Michael was not supposed to be leading off, but once Bourn got hurt, and after trying out Stubbs for a few games, Tito decided to move Brantley into the leadoff spot. when he first started leading off, of course he was still having some struggles. that led to fans complaining that Michael's never been a good leadoff man and he shouldn't be leading off now. good grief. did anyone who made that comment bother to notice that prior to the move Michael really wasn't tearing the cover off the ball or wowing anybody yet? no, of course not. this is the same thing that happened a year ago; Michael was struggling but did start to come out of it at the end of April. and i'm hoping now he can go back to being the consistent hitter he was for the team last year.

further proving my observation, Michael ended the month by hitting his first home run of the campaign. he was the last active member of the Indians to finally go yard. homers are not his forte so i don't foresee many more of those to come, and that's okay. but when he does hit the ball out to souvenir city, it is always nice.

as a result of being moved around in the batting order, another thing that was not supposed to happen with Michael this year, some of his numbers are better than others. for example, when he was batting lower in the order, he got more RBI opportunities. then when he was moved to the leadoff spot, his RBIs went down but his runs scored increased because the guys behind him were able to drive him in more than when he was batting 5th and 6th. Michael made it clear before the season started that he didn't like it last year when he didn't know where he'd be batting from one day to the next. he ended up batting everywhere in the order except for the 9 hole. so far this season, he's been in 4 different spots. for his sake, after he's taken out of the leadoff spot when Bourn comes back, i hope he gets a place that's primarily his. ever the professional though, he will approach all his at bats the same and never complain.

now let's talk about defense. i did not anticipate Michael to be playing any center field this season because of the acquisitions of both Michael Bourn and Drew Stubbs, two center fielders by nature. however, again with Bourn out, there was one game where Michael was moved to center for the last couple innings. and although i don't expect that to happen much more in the future, that is going to expand my break downs because now i have to calculate his numbers for both left and center field. thanks, Tito lol

regardless of where Michael played in the outfield, his defense has been very impressive and his fielding percentage for April is perfect. he had 38 putouts, including his usual great catches. he also had 2 very nice assists this month due to some dead-on throws from left field. there's no denying that our left field defense has improved immensely this year and will continue to be nothing short of stellar as the rest of the season plays out.



now let's break down the numbers. i am going to document his April #s, the 5th spot #s, the 6th spot #s, the 3rd spot #s, the leadoff #s, and the #s of everything not leadoff combined, as well as the left field #s and the center field #s.


April batting average: .286

OBP: .363

SLG: .396

OPS: .758


Michael played in 23 (of 24) complete games in April. he started and played left in 23 games, and he played center for 4 innings when he was moved there in the middle of 1 game. he had 1 official at bat as the center fielder of that game. the one game he did not play in was just him not being in Tito's lineup.


Michael bat 5th in 6 games.

Michael bat 6th in 4 games.

Michael bat 3rd in 1 game.

Michael led off 12 games.


Michael played left field in 23 games.

Michael played center field for just 4 innings in 1 game.


in April, Michael had a total of 102 plate appearances and 91 at bats. here is how he fared:

26 hits

19 singles

5 doubles

1 triple

1 home run

9 RBI

13 runs scored

8 walks

3 hit by pitches

1 caught stealing

14 strikeouts

7 first at bat hits


34 left on base

38 putouts

2 assists

202 innings, 23 games

April batting average: .286 (26-91) (23 games)


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


when Michael bat 5th in April, he had a total of 26 plate appearances and 22 at bats in 6 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

7 hits

7 singles

2 RBI

3 runs scored

3 walks

1 hit by pitch

4 strikeouts

3 first at bat hits


11 left on base

12 putouts

1 assist

53 innings, 6 games

April batting average in the 5th spot: .318 (7-22) (6 games)
April batting average in the 5th spot while playing left: .318 (7-22) (6 games)


when Michael bat 6th in April, he had a total of 15 plate appearances and 13 at bats in 4 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

3 hits

2 singles

1 double

1 run scored

1 walk

1 hit by pitch

0 strikeouts

2 first at bat hits


7 left on base

6 putouts

1 assist

36 innings, 4 games

April batting average in the 6th spot: .231 (3-13) (4 games)
April batting average in the 6th spot while playing left: .231 (3-13) (4 games)


when Michael bat 3rd in April, he had a total of 4 plate appearances and 4 at bats in 1 game. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

1 hit

1 single

0 strikeouts

1 first at bat hit


1 left on base

2 putouts

9 innings, 1 game

April batting average in the 3rd spot: .250 (1-4) (1 game)
April batting average in the 3rd spot while playing left: .250 (1-4) (1 game)



when Michael was not leading off in April, he had a total of 45 plate appearances and 39 at bats in 11 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

11 hits

10 singles

1 double

2 RBI

4 runs scored

4 walks

2 hit by pitches

4 strikeouts

6 first at bat hits


19 left on base

20 putouts

2 assists

98 innings, 11 games

April batting average everywhere other than leadoff: .282 (11-39) (11 games)
April batting average everywhere other than leadoff while playing left: .282 (11-39) (11 games)



when Michael led off in April, he had a total of 57 plate appearances and 52 at bats in 12 games.

15 hits

9 singles

4 doubles

1 triple

1 home run

7 RBI

9 runs scored

4 walks

1 hit by pitch

1 caught stealing

10 strikeouts

1 leadoff (first at bat) hit


15 left on base

18 putouts

104 innings, 12 games

April batting average in the leadoff spot: .288 (15-52) (12 games)



when Michael led off and played left in April, he had a total of 56 plate appearances and 51 at bats in 12 games.

15 hits

9 singles

4 doubles

1 triple

1 home run

7 RBI

9 runs scored

4 walks

1 hit by pitch

1 caught stealing

10 strikeouts

1 (leadoff) first at bat hit


14 left on base

18 putouts

100 innings, 12 games

April batting average in the leadoff spot while playing left: .294 (15-51) (12 games)


when Michael led off and played center in April, he had a total of 1 plate appearance and 1 at bats in 1 game.

0 hits


1 left on base

0 putouts

4 innings, 1 game

April batting average in the leadoff spot while playing center: .000 (0-1) (1 game)



now let's break down his numbers based on where he played in the outfield.


when Michael played left in April, he had a total of 101 plate appearances and 90 at bats in 23 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

26 hits

19 singles

5 doubles

1 triple

1 home run

9 RBI

13 runs scored

8 walks

3 hit by pitches

1 caught stealing

14 strikeouts

7 first at bat hits


33 left on base

38 putouts

2 assists

198 innings, 23 games

(22 complete games)

April batting average while playing left: .289 (26-90) (23 games)


when Michael played center in April, he had a total of 1 plate appearance and 1 at bat in 1 game. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

0 hits


1 left on base

0 putouts

4 innings, 1 game

April batting average while playing center: .000 (0-1) (1 game)



April #s while playing center: 0 putouts, 0 assists, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (4 innings, 1 game)

April #s while playing left: 38 putouts, 2 assists, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (198 innings, 23 games)

April #s while playing the outfield: 38 putouts, 2 assists, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (202 innings, 23 games)



now my game-by-game numbers and notes.

Game 1, April 2: 1-2, single (first at bat), run scored, walk, walk. AVG: .500
(batting 5th/LF/CG)

Game 2, April 3: 4-5, single (first at bat), RBI single, single, single, run scored, reached on forceout. AVG: .714
(5th/LF/CG11)

Game 3, April 4: 1-4, hit by pitch, run scored, single. AVG: .545
(5th/LF/CG)

Game 4, April 5: 0-2, walk. AVG: .462
(5th/LF/CG)

Game 5, April 6: 0-4. AVG: .353
(5th/LF/CG)

April 7: not in lineup.

Game 6, April 8: 1-5, RBI single (first at bat). AVG: .318
(5th/LF/CG)

Game 7, April 9: 0-3, walk. AVG: .280
(6th/LF/CG)

April 10: game postponed, to be made up in a May 13 DH.
(5th/LF/CG)

April 11: game postponed, to be made up in a May 13 DH.
(5th/LF/CG)

Game 8, April 12: 1-3, double (first at bat). AVG: .286
(6th/LF/CG)

Game 9, April 13: 0-3, hit by pitch, run scored. AVG: .258
(6th/LF/CG)

Game 10, April 14: 1-4, single (first at bat). AVG: .257
(3rd/LF/CG)

Game 11, April 16: 2-4, single (first at bat), single. AVG: .282
(6th/LF/CG)

Game 12, April 17: 0-3, walk. AVG: .262
(leadoff/LF/CG)
^^i guess Tito decided to give Michael a shot at leading off again because Bourn is on the 15-day DL with a finger laceration. i definitely don't expect him to lead off again once Bourn comes back.^^

Game 13, April 18: 1-4, single, run scored. AVG: .261
(leadoff/LF/CG)

Game 14, April 19: 0-4, walk. AVG: .240
(leadoff/LF/CG)

Game 15, April 20: 2-6, 2-run double, RBI walk, run scored, single. AVG: .250
(leadoff/LF - 5 i/CF - 4 i)

Game 16, April 21: 1-5, single. AVG: .246
(leadoff/LF/CG)

Game 17, April 22: 1-3, single, caught stealing, walk, run scored. AVG: .250
(leadoff/LF/CG)

April 23: game postponed.

Game 18, April 24: 2-4, single, single, run scored. AVG: .265
(leadoff/LF/CG)

April 26: game postponed, to be made up April 28.
(leadoff/LF)

Game 19, April 27: 2-5, double, 2-run triple. AVG: .274
(leadoff/LF/CG)

Game 20, April 28 (Day Game): 0-4. AVG: .260
(leadoff/LF/CG)

Game 21, April 28 (Night Game): 2-4, single (first at bat), run scored, hit by pitch, single, run scored. AVG: .272
(leadoff/LF/CG)

Game 22, April 29: 3-5, double, run scored, double, run scored, single. AVG: .291
(leadoff/LF/CG)

Game 23, April 30: 1-5, 2-run home run, run scored. AVG: .286
(leadoff/LF/CG)


let me also put it out there that May would be a great time to get one of his hitting streaks started... ;D

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