Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Brantley's 2016 #s Through May

this blog contains Michael's 2016 season numbers through the month of May. it follows the same format as my monthly blogs, except the sections have been rearranged and some have been omitted. also, due to Michael's lack of play through May, this blog has less information in it than usual.


so far in 2016, Michael has 43 plate appearances and 39 at bats in 11 games (89.1 innings). in total, he has 9 hits, 2 extra base hits, 7 singles, 2 doubles, 7 RBI, 1 sac fly, 5 runs, 3 walks, 1 intentional walk, 1 stolen base (3rd), 1 GIDP, 6 strikeouts (3 swinging, 3 looking), 1 first at bat hit, 11 total bases, 14 left on base, 18 putouts, and 1 assist.

2016 batting average through May:
.231 (9-39)

OBP: .279

SLG: .282

OPS: .561


Still Not a Qualifying Player and What That Means

the Cleveland Indians have played 50 games through May; Michael has played in 11, and only 10 complete. i never saw this coming.

i went into this season taking it for granted that when Michael finally came off the DL, he would slowly be integrated into games, then advance back to an every day/regular player again and that would be it. i wasn't anticipating any potential setbacks would sideline him, and i definitely didn't foresee a second DL stint. but that's what's happened and now we all, especially me, have to face the reality of the situation.

considering there's still no timetable for his return, it's very unlikely that Michael will play enough this year to have a shot at becoming a qualifying player. frankly, he'll be lucky to play in 100 games total at this rate because when he does come back sometime in June, it's assumed that he'll have several scheduled off days incorporated into the month so that he doesn't overdo it and re-aggravate his shoulder.

at this particular time, Michael is nowhere near qualifying. through May, he has 0.9 plate appearances per game, and he needs 3.1. the minimum PA a player can have on the year and still be a qualifier is 495, and that normally takes about four and a half months of the season to achieve. if a player misses more than a month and a half of play, then in all likelihood, he'll be eliminated from qualifying. right now, Michael is getting dangerously close to that cut off. there really is no way for him to make up all the time he's missed unless he averages like 5 plate appearances a game when he returns, which isn't very feasible.

this doesn't have to be a lost season for Michael, but what's occurred so far is quite sad. his reign as the team leader in batting average for four years running is going to end. he will not boast any career highs in 2016 or acquire any team highs for the season. and there's essentially no chance for his offensive statistics to rank high around the league either.

i imagine at some point Michael will be able to play consistently and be a qualifier in a few of the latter months of the season. so maybe if he can get hot, i will have some exciting news regarding monthly rankings. but there almost certainly won't be any in these cumulative blogs.

of course i still want him to do well in whatever amount of games he does get to play in this year and accumulate as many stats as he can. but the goal now for 2016 is to just get Michael's shoulder as strong as possible and get him back out on the field; the numbers no longer take precedence.


Team Leads and Career Highs

note: while Michael may have team leads and career highs per month, it's not likely he'll have any as a whole this season since he sat out the majority of games in the first two months. he probably will not be able to obtain enough stats fast enough to get himself in the conversation for leading categories. so don't expect much in this section going forward--i may end up having to exclude it altogether--if he doesn't begin to compile some big stats in the upcoming months.

through May, Michael is tied for the team lead with 1 intentional walk.

he's also tied for 3rd with 1 assist among the outfielders.

Michael does not have any career highs through May.


HR, RBI, K Rate, LOB, and Outs

after a mere 11 games in 2 months of play, Michael has not yet hit any home runs.

he has 7 RBI to this point in the season and left a total of 14 men on base.

Michael's K rate so far in 2016 is 14.0% (6 K/43 PA). he currently averages 1 strikeout for every 7.2 plate appearances. with more playing time, that's surely going to decrease.

in Michael's first seven games of 2016, he had some abnormal numbers as Jordan Bastian acknowledged in his Covering the Bases blog on bastian.mlblogs.com.

photo courtesy of Jordan Bastian via bastian.mlblogs.com

Bastian's chart showcases some of Michael's swinging percentages this year through May 4, 2016 and compared them to both his 2015 season and overall career. his contact rate on pitches outside the strike zone was 30% lower than it was in 2015. Michael's swinging-strike rate was more than twice his career rate, and his first-pitch strike percentage was higher than usual, too, due to him fouling off more pitches than he ordinarily does. basically, these numbers are not at all what we're used to seeing from Dr. Smooth.

furthermore, his overall contact rate in 2016 was down. over the 2013-2015 seasons, Michael had a 91.7% contact rate per Bastian, leading everyone in baseball. right now, his strikeouts are up. then again, every time he's played this year, he's still been trying to get more comfortable at the plate and re-familiarized with his swing. so it's an understandable difference. and, don't forget, it's also a very small sample size to go by thus far.

through May, Michael has 11 groundouts, 5 flyouts, 7 lineouts, and 1 pop out versus 6 strikeouts. despite his swinging percentages being atypical, he's making contact with the ball to create an out almost four times more than he strikes out. and that's good.


Situational Statistics

Michael hit in 6 of the 11 games he's played in so far in 2016 and reached base safely in 7 games. he has 5 hitless games, but still reached base in 1 of those. Michael has 1 multi-hit game, 1 three+ hit game, and 1 multi-RBI game. he has at least 1 RBI in 5 games. in addition, he has 2 go-ahead hits and 2 go-ahead RBI. the Indians are now 6-5 in games that Michael played in and 20-19 in the games he sat out/missed.

Michael is currently batting .219 (7-for-32) against right-handed pitchers and .286 (2-for-7) against left-handed pitchers. when he returns and acquires more at bats, i expect both these averages to increase.

Michael's hitting .389 (7-for-18) with 6 RBI at home. he has 1 double (1 extra base hit) at Progressive Field, along with 4 runs, 2 walks, 1 GIDP, 2 strikeouts (1 looking, 1 swinging), and 8 total bases while playing 5 out of 24 total home games. he hit safely in 4 of the 5 home games he's played in and safely reached base in all 5 of them. he has 1 hitless game at home, but still reached base in it.

conversely, Michael's hitting .095 (2-for-21) with 1 RBI away from Progressive Field. he has 1 double (1 extra base hit) on the road, along with 1 sac fly, 1 run, 1 walk (intentional), 1 stolen base (3rd), 4 strikeouts (2 swinging, 2 looking), and 3 total bases while playing 6 out of 26 total road games. he hit safely in 2 of the 6 road games he's played in and safely reached base in 2 of them. he has 4 hitless games away from home, reaching base in none.

Michael's now batting .385 (5-for-13) with runners in scoring position with 7 RBI through May. to be more specific, he's batting 1.000 (1-for-1) with RISP and 0 outs, .429 (3-for-7) with RISP and 1 out, and .200 (1-for-5) with RISP and 2 outs.

with 2 outs in an inning, Michael is presently batting .154 (2-for-13). he now has 2 doubles, 2 RBI, 1 walk (intentional), and 4 strikeouts (3 swinging, 1 looking).

additionally, he's hitting .333 (5-for-15) with 7 RBI with runners on base and has not come to bat at all with the bases loaded yet this season.

lastly, Michael's hitting .167 (4-for-24) with the bases empty right now. he has 1 double and 4 strikeouts (2 swinging, 2 looking).

through the first 2 months of the season, Michael has a 0.0 fWAR (wins above replacement), a 46 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus--the ability to create runs compared to the league average), a 0.4 BsR (baserunning runs above average with stolen bases and caught stealings), and a 1.5 UZR (ultimate zone rating). while these numbers are all improvements from the end of April, they do not rank among qualifying AL left fielders because Michael is not a qualifier. [these stats all came courtesy of fangraphs.com.]


Versus AL Central Division Teams

vs. the Detroit Tigers, Michael's batting .500 (6-for-12) in 3 games. (he missed 3 games while on the 15-Day DL recovering from offseason right shoulder surgery/out on a minor league rehab assignment with the Columbus Clippers.) he has 5 singles and 1 double, as well as 5 RBI, 2 runs, and 7 total bases while leaving 2 men on base. in the field, Michael's played 27 innings in left and recorded 5 putouts.

vs. the Kansas City Royals, Michael's batting .167 (1-for-6) in 2 games. (he had 1 scheduled off day.) his lone hit was a single, but he also has 1 RBI, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 1 total base. he's grounded into 1 double play, has 2 strikeouts (1 looking, 1 swinging), and stranded 3 runners. defensively, Michael's played 18 innings in left field, recording 3 putouts and acquiring 1 outfield assist.

vs. the Minnesota Twins, Michael's batting .125 (1-for-8) in 3 games. (he missed 1 game because of right shoulder fatigue and had an MRI, and he missed 2 games after just being put on the 15-Day DL with right shoulder inflammation.) he has 1 single, 1 RBI, 1 sac fly, 1 run, 1 walk (intentional), 1 stolen base (3rd), and 1 total base. he also has 2 strikeouts (1 swinging, 1 looking) and 4 left on base. in left field, he's played 18.1 innings and recorded 5 putouts. (he was a PH in 1 game, then played 1 inning in LF after a defensive switch.)

when the Indians played the Chicago White Sox, Michael was on the disabled list and has missed all 6 games/2 series so far against this team. he missed 2 games in the first series while on the 15-Day DL still recovering from offseason right shoulder surgery, and he missed 4 games in the second series while on the 15-Day DL with right shoulder inflammation/a subacromial impingement and had just begun some light swinging.


Interleague Play

the Indians have played a total of 10 games against National League teams through May, yet Michael has only played in two games. overall, he's batting .111 (1-for-9) in Interleague Play in 2016.

when the Indians played the New York Mets at Progressive Field, Michael was on the 15-Day DL recovering from offseason right shoulder surgery/out on a minor league rehab assignment with the Akron RubberDucks. he missed all 3 games of their series.

vs. the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park (no designated hitter allowed), Michael bat .111 (1-for-9) in 2 games. (he had 1 scheduled off day.) he had 1 double equaling 2 total bases. he also struck out twice (1 swinging, 1 looking) and stranded 4 runners. in the field, Michael played 18 innings in left and recorded 5 putouts.

when the Indians played the Cincinnati Reds at both Progressive Field and Great American Ball Park (no designated hitter allowed in the latter), Michael was on the 15-Day DL with right shoulder inflammation and a subacromial impingement, for which he received an anti-inflammatory shot. he missed all 4 games in the home-and-home set of series.


Spotlight On 2-Baggers

from the beginning of 2014 up to the present, Michael is 2nd in the American League with 92 doubles. Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros is 1st with 105 doubles and Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers is 3rd with 89. if we include the National League, then Yoenis Cespedes of the New York Mets is 4th with 87 doubles.

Michael had been the league leader in doubles, but he lost that title when Altuve passed him on April 14. save for Altuve getting hurt and missing significant time, i'm not confident Michael will be capable of catching up to him. so this might now be senseless to continue documenting, but i'm gonna keep monitoring it for the rest of the season anyway.

(thanks to Paul Hoynes and Jordan Bastian who both brought this to my attention on May 12, 2015 and September 25, 2015, respectively.)


League Rankings

because Michael has played so little thus far, almost none of his total statistics--with the exception of two--rank in the Top 10 when compared with other players in the American League and overall MLB.

among outfielders in the American League, Michael ranks tied for 5th in intentional walks (1).

among left fielders in the American League, Michael ranks tied for 2nd in intentional walks and tied for 7th in sac flies (1).

among all major league left fielders, Michael ranks tied for 5th in intentional walks.

it's important to note that as more players around the league pile up more stats, Michael's intent walk and sac fly may fall out of the Top 10. therefore, i might not be able to include a League Rankings section in my next "#s Through" blog.


Important All Star Voting Information

during the month of May, i stumbled upon a few issues regarding the All Star voting that i want to share with everyone. think of this as a public service announcement. let me start with how i've been using several email addresses to vote. (when i was young and the internet just started getting popular, i went a little email-creation crazy, so i have plenty to use to vote.) i did this last year, and we all know the Kansas City Royals fans obviously did as well lol but because of the new restriction limits on voting this year, it's a little more tedious to vote with multiple emails. still, it can be done.

in early May, i found out that you can vote in less than 24 hours with the same email, but those extra votes won't really count. see, i thought i had voted the maximum number of times with one email addy--five times every day for a week. except, i only had five email confirmations saying i had voted with that particular email. it was then that i realized i must have voted a few times before my 24 hour time limit was over. so, even though my votes went through--which should not be allowed!--they clearly weren't actually being computed. my advice to voters: make sure you are getting confirmation emails every day you vote. then you'll know the votes went through and counted.

to go along with that, i also discovered that even after you've voted 35 times with your email, you can still vote more with it. the day after i got my last confirmation email in one of my inboxes, i decided to vote once more, just to be sure i did vote the full 35 times. and guess what? my votes went through until i tried to submit a 6th vote. the system did not tell me that my email was already used up--which it should have, or that my votes were invalid--which i dislike. so you have to be aware of that because you might think your votes are being cast when they're not.

unless... i mean, is the voting limitation even legitimate? are we merely being duped into voting only 5x a day with one email when we truthfully can vote more than that? i know i absolutely voted more than 35 times total with a few email addresses. the only question is did those votes count? we may never really know. but if they did [count], and more people are doing this, well that could totally affect the results.

then, on May 23, i noticed something different. i had just voted with one email, five times, and then when i went to vote again with another email, this box popped up saying "you have voted the maximum amount of times for today. you can cast 5 ballots per 24 hours up to 35 ballots. come back soon." that is when i learned you could no longer vote with multiple emails in one day in one web browser.

i couldn't help but wonder why i had the ability to do that every day from April 24 - May 22, but not anymore. was it another glitch or did they change it all the sudden? why revise it after a month's worth of votes had already been cast and a month's time had already passed? if that's what they wanted to do all along, then how come that restriction wasn't put in place at the start of the All Star voting? is that not sketchy? luckily, i have multiple web browsers on my computer to vote with, and i assume most people do as well. but this is getting ridiculous, and i won't be shocked if eventually they change the policy again. smh.

they never should have altered the rules to voting only five times a day this year because, as i've indicated, there have been several issues with it so far. (and i hope those are corrected by the time we all vote for the 2017 ASG). i bet there are some people out there who've forgotten to utilize all 35 of their votes, too. cause it's more of a pain to have to remember to vote every day AND make sure 24 hours have passed from your last vote, as opposed to just getting all 35 of your votes in at one time like in previous years.

at this point, i have reservations about whether my votes are even being counted at all or if this thing is rigged. between the rule changes and the possible trickery and sketchiness surrounding the voting allowances, don't be surprised if your favorites don't make it to the Midsummer Classic this year. yes, i know every year there are deserved players who don't end up starting the ASG or being named to reserve roles, but if there's fuckery afoot with the voting, that's neither fair nor right.


All Star Voting Results

when the first results of the AL All Star voting came out on May 31, Michael was not ranked in the top 15 outfielders. not only that, but no Cleveland Indians players were listed anywhere on the first released results ballot.

photo courtesy of @MLB_PR on twitter

the next set of American League results will be revealed on Tuesday, June 7. after that, updates will be posted again on Tuesday, June 14 and Tuesday, June 21. (couldn't tell ya why the 5th date is TBD and not June 28.) voting ends on Thursday, June 30 at 11:59 pm ET. VOTE FOR MICHAEL HERE!

let me just say, i fully understand that many people, notably those who aren't Tribe fans, might find it pointless to vote for a player who's not even playing right now, has barely played to this point, and doesn't have a lot of stats. these are precisely the reasons why my boy is not currently in the Top 15 race. but Michael won't be on the DL forever. he'll be back in June and could end up having a hot month. so i encourage everyone to support him and vote for him now because you never know!


In The Field

Michael has played optimal defense so far in 2016. after seeing time only in left field, he has a total of 18 putouts and 1 assist to go along with his perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

among AL left fielders, Michael's 1 assist ranks tied for 16th (with 11 other players).

however, his 1 assist ranks too low for me to even identify among AL outfielders, MLB left fielders, and MLB outfielders.

finally, Michael has now played 30 straight games without committing an error in the outfield. he still has quite a long way to go before he even comes close to breaking his previous franchise record of 247 errorless games.



now let's break down the numbers. i am going to document his 2016 #s through May, the leadoff #s vs. the non-leadoff #s combined, the 3rd spot #s, the 4th spot #s, and the PH #s, as well as the left field #s, the BOP + left field #s, and overall outfield #s.


2016 batting average through May: .231

OBP: .279

SLG: .282

OPS: .561


Michael played in 11 (of 50) games, 10 complete, in 2016 through May.

he started and played left in 10 games, completing 10 of those games, appearing in 11 total. he was a defensive switch in 1 game for 1 inning after a PH appearance.

he came in to PH in the top of the 8th inning for 1 game.

he missed 16 games because he was still on the 15-Day DL rehabbing from offseason right shoulder surgery/out on a minor league rehab assignment.

he missed 3 games because of shoulder fatigue.

he missed 18 games because he was on the 15-Day DL again with right shoulder inflammation/a subacromial impingement.

he had 2 scheduled off days.


Michael bat leadoff in 1 game. (PH)

Michael bat 3rd in 1 game.

Michael bat 4th in 9 games.


Michael played left field in 11 games. (10 complete, 1 defensive switch: 1 inning)

Michael was the PH in 1 game.

Michael played in 10 complete games.



through May 2016, Michael has a total of 43 plate appearances and 39 at bats. here is how he fared:

9 hits

2 extra base hits

7 singles

2 doubles

7 RBI

1 sac fly

5 runs

3 walks

1 intentional walk

1 stolen base (3rd)

1 GIDP

6 strikeouts (3 swinging, 3 looking)

1 first at bat hit

11 total bases

14 left on base


18 putouts

1 assist

89.1 innings, 11 games

(10 complete games)

2016 batting average through May: .231 (9-39) (11 games)


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


when Michael bat leadoff in 2016, he had a total of 1 plate appearance and 1 at bat in 1 game. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

0 hits

2 left on base


1 inning, 1 game

2016 batting average in the leadoff spot through May: .000 (0-1) (1 game)


when Michael bat leadoff and played left in 2016, he had no plate appearances and no at bats in 1 game. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

1 inning, 1 game

2016 batting average in the leadoff spot while playing left through May: N/A (1 game)


when Michael bat leadoff, he was a PH in 2016 for 1 game. he had a total of 1 plate appearance and 1 at bat. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

0 hits

2 left on base


1 game

2016 batting average as a PH in the leadoff spot through May: .000 (0-1) (1 game)


when Michael came in to PH in 2016, he had a total of 1 plate appearance and 1 at bat in 1 game. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

0 hits

2 left on base


1 game

2016 batting average as a PH through May: .000 (0-1) (1 game)


when Michael bat everywhere other than leadoff in 2016, he had a total of 42 plate appearances and 38 at bats in 10 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

9 hits

2 extra base hits

7 singles

2 doubles

7 RBI

1 sac fly

5 runs

3 walks

1 intentional walk

1 stolen base (3rd)

1 GIDP

6 strikeouts (3 swinging, 3 looking)

1 first at bat hit

11 total bases

12 left on base


18 putouts

1 assist

88.1 innings, 10 games

(10 complete games)

2016 batting average everywhere other than leadoff through May: .237 (9-38) (10 games)
2016 batting average everywhere other than leadoff while playing left through May: .237 (9-38) (10 games)


now let's break down the numbers when he was not leading off.


when Michael bat 3rd in 2016, he had a total of 4 plate appearances and 4 at bats in 1 game. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

0 hits

3 left on base


2 putouts

8 innings, 1 game

(1 complete game)

2016 batting average in the 3rd spot through May: .000 (0-4) (1 game)
2016 batting average in the 3rd spot while playing left through May: .000 (0-4) (1 game)


when Michael bat 4th in 2016, he had a total of 38 plate appearances and 34 at bats in 9 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

9 hits

2 extra base hits

7 singles

2 doubles

7 RBI

1 sac fly

5 runs

3 walks

1 intentional walk

1 stolen base (3rd)

1 GIDP

6 strikeouts (3 swinging, 3 looking)

1 first at bat hit

11 total bases

9 left on base


16 putouts

1 assist

80.1 innings, 9 games

(9 complete games)

2016 batting average in the 4th spot through May: .265 (9-34) (9 games)
2016 batting average in the 4th spot while playing left through May: .265 (9-34) (9 games)


when Michael played the outfield in 2016, he had a total of 42 plate appearances and 38 at bats in 11 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

9 hits

2 extra base hits

7 singles

2 doubles

7 RBI

1 sac fly

5 runs

3 walks

1 intentional walk

1 stolen base (3rd)

1 GIDP

6 strikeouts (3 swinging, 3 looking)

1 first at bat hit

11 total bases

12 left on base


18 putouts

1 assist

89.1 innings, 11 games

(10 complete games)

2016 batting average while playing the outfield through May: .237 (9-38) (11 games)


now let's break down his numbers specific to where he played in the outfield.


when Michael played left in 2016, he had a total of 42 plate appearances and 38 at bats in 11 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

9 hits

2 extra base hits

7 singles

2 doubles

7 RBI

1 sac fly

5 runs

3 walks

1 intentional walk

1 stolen base (3rd)

1 GIDP

6 strikeouts (3 swinging, 3 looking)

1 first at bat hit

11 total bases

12 left on base


18 putouts

1 assist

89.1 innings, 11 games

(10 complete games)

2016 batting average while playing left through May: .237 (9-38) (11 games)



2016 #s so far while playing left: 18 putouts, 1 assist, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (89.1 innings, 11 games)

2016 #s so far while playing the outfield: 18 putouts, 1 assist, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (89.1 innings, 11 games)



Michael's game-by-game numbers and notes are not included in my cumulative blogs. if you want to see those, please refer back to my monthlies:
Brantley's April 2016 #s
Brantley's May 2016 #s

thanks for reading! don't forget you can follow me on twitter @clevelandgirl23 to get daily news and updates about Michael prior to when my monthly/cumulative blogs go live. and, if you're not already, you can also subscribe to my email list on the right side of the blog!

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