Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Brantley's August 2016 (w/ Post-Surgery Interview)

hey, Brantley fans! as always, i want to start out by expressing my usual gratitude. thank you to everyone who took the time to read my Brantley's July 2016 blog and Brantley's 2016 #s Through July blog, as well as the three surgery blogs i wrote this month AND the three rehab blogs that i posted. there was a lot going on that i needed to address separately from here, so i appreciate people checking all that out. i also want to say a special hello to my new viewers in Sint Maarten, Taiwan, Egypt, and South Africa! welcome and thanks for stopping by!

now on to the sad news. if you don't already know, Michael's season is over. that's right, he will not be returning this year after all on account of the biceps tenodesis (surgery) he had mid-month. give the man props for putting everything he had into his many rehab attempts in order to rejoin the Indians on the baseball field, but apparently it was not meant to be. regardless, the blog must go on!

because Michael did not play in any August games, this will be a lot like the June and July blogs once again in that many sections are bare and some have been altogether omitted. this post heavily features his DL updates and post-surgery news. i did try my best, however, to incorporate some interesting things despite Michael's absence from games, so be sure to read the new "Did You Know?" and "Hammy Says" sections of the blog down below.


August Overview

the Indians had a packed schedule this month, playing a total of 30 games in August. and for the third month in a row, Michael played zero. the Indians went
16-14 without him, but it wasn't easy. the truth of the matter is they really struggled to score runs in the majority of games on their final road trip. i'm gonna delve into that more as soon as i recap what led to the early ending of Michael's 2016 campaign.

when August began, Michael was still hitting off a pitching machine but quickly advanced to hitting off live pitching. shortly after that, word came out that Michael's comeback had stalled because he was having right shoulder pain in the follow-through of his swing yet again. he went to see a specialist in NYC, who diagnosed him with chronic biceps tendinitis. then Michael and all four of the doctors he had seen this year convened and ultimately decided the best thing for him would be another surgery. on August 15, Dr. Keith Meister and Dr. Mark Shickendantz both performed biceps tenodesis on Michael in Dallas, Texas. it went well, but unfortunately it takes four months to bounce back from, and so his season is now officially done. (more details about this can be found in the DL Updates section of the blog below.)

this is very disheartening for me personally as Michael's #1 fan because i never want to see games go by that he's not playing in, let alone most of the entire season. up until a few weeks ago, i kept my mind positive and had hope that he would return sometime this year. now that hope is gone and i have to come to terms with the fact that he won't be playing again until 2017. and even though i did come out and proclaim last month that if he had another setback in August, then he should probably just be shut down for the remainder of 2016 so he can heal up for 2017, the reality of that happening is depressing. to say the back half of August has been difficult to accept is an understatement. i wish Michael all the best in his recovery this offseason so he can finally have a healthy and normal baseball season next year.

but before we start thinking about that, we still have to finish 2016, and right now the Indians are in the middle of a serious run to October. they currently own a 4.5-game lead in the AL Central over the Detroit Tigers. with 30 games left to play and a September/October schedule comprised of mostly Central Division opponents, the upcoming month will certainly be compelling.

in August, the Tribe capped off a 9-game homestand (that commenced in July) with four games versus the Minnesota Twins. those Twins have been the Achilles' heel for our boys all year and this series was no different--the Indians only mustered one win and suffered three losses.

the guys next had two series' away from Progressive Field against the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals. in their 3-gamer with the Yanks, the Tribe went 1-2 before getting their only off day in August. then they split the short 2-game set with the Nats. that gave them a 3-6 record to start out the month. not great.

the Indians did redeem themselves though during a long, 11-game homestand. it began with a four game sweep versus the Los Angeles Angels. then the Tribe had a makeup game versus the Boston Red Sox (from an April rainout during opening week of the season!), but sadly lost it. following that, their home field advantage continued with three games versus the Chicago White Sox and closed with three games versus the Toronto Blue Jays. they went 2-1 in both series' to put together an 8-3 showing while at home.

next, the Indians embarked on a road trip that found them back on the west coast. they played three games against the Oakland Athletics before heading to the lone star state to face the Texas Rangers in a 4-game series. their offense seemingly vanished while playing the A's and they won just one game with one (home)run. things didn't improve much against the Rangers either and they lost three of those four games. in total, they got shutout twice, scored only one run four times, and were the victors of one blowout on this trip to give them a paltry 2-5 overall record.

in their final series of August, the Tribe returned home to battle the Twins once again. i'm not gonna lie, it had the potential for an ugly finish. luckily this time, the Wahoos prevailed and swept their division foes in three games. that allowed them to conclude the month at 16-14, two games over .500.


DL & Post-Surgery Updates

note: the updates from August 1-16 were already integrated in the Brantley's May - August 2016 DL Stint Updates & Rehab Game Details blog. i also previously posted the following three separate surgery-based blogs: Brantley To Have Season-Ending Right Shoulder Surgery; Brantley Undergoes Biceps Tenodesis, Recovery Will Take 4 Months; and What Is Biceps Tenodesis?. so if you read those before when they were published at their outset, then you can just skip down to the post-surgery updates (starting on August 18).


August 2: there were no Michael updates yesterday, most likely because everyone was wrapped up in the recent trades and new Indians coming to the ballclub. however, this morning, Paul Hoynes responded to someone's twitter inquiry that Michael's still hitting off a pitching machine and cranking it to "Nolan Ryan-type" velocity and that he's feeling good per Terry Francona.

in the afternoon, T.J. Zuppe posted an article on cleveland.cbslocal.com with an excerpt on Michael, including that he continues to hit off a pitching machine in the batting cage but there's still no timetable for when he will resume his minor league rehab assignment. "he had a good day and he's kind of fired up about it," Francona shared. "he's doing good. his volume has been extended."

August 3: early on during the Indians game, radio broadcaster Tom Hamilton enthusiastically reported to WTAM 1100 listeners that Michael hit live today off Joe Colon, who's also on the disabled list and pitched a simulated game. Hammy went on that Michael's really feeling good and commented it may be shortly that he gets to go out and play in minor league rehab games. Michael had been cranking up the pitching machine to the upper 90s and hitting off velocity because he gets more off of that. but Hammy contended that hitting outside on the field against Colon, who gets it up there into the mid-90s, is a good sign.

later, an article on cleveland.com by Zack Meisel further supplied that Francona will meet with Michael to determine the next course of action in his rehab process. "by all accounts, Brantley is feeling really good."

August 7: in the midst of the Indians road trip (during which time you can usually expect little to no news about Michael), WTAM 1100 broadcaster Jim Rosenhaus gave his Novacare Rehabilitation injury report during the afternoon game. he had nothing new to disclose, just that Michael's still building up and "hitting off a pitching machine and the like."

August 8: while the Tribe had an off day, a new Indians Inbox by Jordan Bastian appeared on indians.com in the afternoon. someone requested to know the status of Michael and if we're going to see him this year. Bastian answered that he continues to work through a hitting program, but there remains no firm timetable for his return to game activity. he noted that there might be more information when the Indians return to Cleveland [on August 11], where Francona can sit down with the medical team and Michael in person to discuss his progress. Bastian lastly added that he wouldn't venture to guess if or when Michael will be back for the Tribe.

then in the early evening, Hoynsie broke some news that came as a surprise to me, mainly because they don't generally make injury updates available on road trips or off days. but his cleveland.com article exposed that Michael's comeback had stalled once again. there weren't any particulars, only that the hydrodissection procedure he had done [on July 21] initially relieved his pain, but now "he still can't generate enough pain-free force to be effective."

August 9: i anticipated more details today and they came rushing in around the 5 o'clock hour. Bastian gets credit as the first of MANY to tweet the official release from the Indians regarding Michael. it read: LF Michael Brantley recently experienced a recurrence of right shoulder symptoms while progressing through hitting activities late last week. Brantley was seen yesterday by Dr. Stephen O'Brien at the Hospital of Special Surgery in New York City. Dr. O'Brien confirmed that Michael is experiencing symptoms consistent with chronic biceps tendinitis. the club is in the process of conducting additional medical due diligence to formulate the most appropriate plan moving forward. additional information will be provided once available.

shortly after, Bastian tweeted that Chris Antonetti, Indians President of Baseball Operations, said surgery is "a possibility," but the Indians are gathering more information to determine if that step is necessary.

Hoynsie's evening article on cleveland.com had more from Antonetti. "the plan moving forward will be to get the group of doctors that have seen Michael and are familiar with his case to get together and come up with a plan of care for him. what exactly that means, we don't know yet."

as for surgery, he stated, "how likely and what exactly the nature of the surgery would be, that's why we need to get all the doctors together to figure out what their recommendation is.

"there is nothing more anyone could have asked from Michael. i know he's been disappointed that he hasn't been able to come back and impact the team the way he had envisioned, but the one thing we all know is it's not for lack of work, effort, commitment and passion for getting back. there's nobody who has worked harder throughout the rehabilitation process than Michael, nor has been more diligent in doing it."

"he's done such a good job of getting ready to play," Tito declared in Bastian's article on indians.com. "and then, once he gets to that last step, he feels it. so, we're trying to get to the bottom of it. the most important thing is to get to the bottom of it and, whatever needs to be done, we will. we should know something here pretty soon."

August 11: Hayden Grove took video during Francona's afternoon media session as he reviewed the current dilemma in relation to Michael. "talked to Brant for quite a while. i think i mentioned, he went to New York, saw the specialist there, came back. what we're doing now is everybody's kinda putting their heads together, including Michael. he's been a part of this the whole way, as he should be. and i would think in the next couple days we will have some more definite plans for what he's gonna do. it's not just if he has surgery, but what kind of surgery, where, things like that. so there's a lot of stuff to work through and we're doing that now. and like i said, when we have something that's firm, we'll explain it to everybody."

August 12: Bastian tweeted the Indians were still "in the holding pattern" on Michael according to Francona because the outfielder was still consulting the medical team about the specifics of his next step.

August 13: Bastian was the first to tweet the devastating news from Tito at 4:25 pm that Michael will have season-ending surgery on Monday [August 15], the specifics of which will be announced later. Hoynsie followed up with a tweet that the surgery will be done in Dallas, Texas by Dr. Keith Meister and Dr. Mark Shickendantz, while Bastian's indians.com article unveiled it will take place at TMI Sports Medicine.

here's one of the last photos of Michael in the dugout during the Indians game before leaving for his surgery:

photo courtesy of Chuck Crow via The Plain Dealer

i've already written a separate blog containing several quotes from Francona as well as my personal thoughts on everything that's happened to Michael since his November surgery, which you can read here.

August 15: the Indians played a makeup game at 1:10 pm, and after the game Hoynsie tweeted that Michael's surgery started later than expected and the Indians will probably have an update on Tuesday [August 16].

August 16: in a press release on indians.com, the Indians revealed that Michael had a 45-minute procedure, known as biceps tenodesis, on August 15 in Dallas, Texas to address the chronic biceps tendinitis in his right shoulder. when Dr. Meister and Dr. Shickendantz performed the surgery, they also confirmed that Michael's labral repair was intact and the remainder of the shoulder joint looked good. he will need about four months in order to make a full recovery and should be ready in time to have a normal spring training in 2017. i wrote a blog with more details about it along with some quotes from the manager here.

in addition, i wrote a subsequent blog with supplementary information that explains just what biceps tenodesis (surgery) entails and gives a tentative post-op plan for Michael. you can read that here.

August 18: at the very end of his evening cleveland.com article, Hoynsie divulged that Michael had already returned to Cleveland after his surgery on August 15.

August 29: prior to the game, an article by Meisel was published on cleveland.com featuring an update on Michael. finally! it affirmed that, exactly two weeks after he underwent biceps tenodesis, Michael visited with his teammates (who had just come home from a week long road trip) in the Indians' clubhouse in the afternoon. his arm was still in a sling, but he was scheduled to have his stitches from surgery removed today. "when you're hurt, you can feel like you're not necessarily part of what's going on," Francona admitted. "i've been there. i think everybody, myself included, loves having him around."

then a few hours into the Tribe game, Hammy recognized and commended Michael's presence, too. "good to see Michael Brantley at the ballpark. his arm is still in a sling after his latest surgery. ...it's nice to see him back at the ballpark." i concur. i'm happy he's with the team again during home games.

August 30: it was team picture day and, per Bastian's tweet, Josh Tomlin helped Michael--still wearing the sling--put on his belt for the picture. then later, via Grove's scout.com article, Michael watched the Indians take batting practice from the dugout railing.

more exciting than that was Michael also met with the media, at long last, for the first time since his surgery, opening up about things such as his feelings vis-a-vis his shoulder rehab and some of the limitations he now has.

screenshot cropped from T.J. Zuppe's video on youtube.com

i transcribed the following from a five and a half minute video that was taken by Zuppe and embedded in his article on cleveland.cbslocal.com. (i believe it starts with Michael answering a question about how long he'll be in the sling.)

"six weeks." six weeks? "yes, sir." 24 hours a day? "i take it off to do some exercises here or there but for the most part, i gotta be in the sling." then Michael flashed his classic smile.

what was the feeling when he found out he needed surgery again and decided to take that approach? (cause he worked so hard to try and get back this season...) "it was tough, but at the same time i knew that i did everything in my power to get back this year. i mean, i tried multiple times as we all know. it just didn't work out for me. so i kinda had to accept the hand that i was dealt and go from there."

does it make it easier or harder that the team's playing so well, for him personally? he's not a part of this, but at the same time, they've played well even without him playing. "they're doing such a great job. i still, i feel like i'm almost there in the games sometimes when i'm rooting from the couch and they're on the road trips and i'm not being able to be there for them. i just turn into a, basically a superfan. but that's alright cause i get a chance to talk to them and text them and still be in this locker room, be in this atmosphere, and just do anything i can to help a young guy, or any questions they have or anything, i'm here for."

Ty [Van Burkleo, Indians hitting coach] has mentioned that before. [he said Michael will talk hitting with them during a game.] does he feel like that's kind of his role right now, to try and provide anything he can along those lines? "anything i can. i mean, i can't be on the field with them as much as i want obviously, cause of this. but you know anything i can do in the dugout, in the locker room, after a game, anything i can do to ease somebody's mind or help somebody in a positive way to impact this team, that's what my role is."

when he was putting in all the work, when did he reach the point where he said, 'i might not be able to come back?' "well i just kinda kept doing the same thing. i'd kinda get built all the way up and then i'd go into a game situation and i'd just get worn down very, very quickly. i couldn't sustain the play every day and that's what you gotta do, not to mention the level. and unfortunately with some different tests and stuff we figured out, we found out that i needed another surgery."

so like a week or so before, did he know that he wasn't going to be able to come back? "i did not. i didn't know until the day i had my checkup. i was gonna continue to keep working as hard as i could to get back this year and do whatever i could but, i didn't stop working until the doctor said, 'hey, listen, this is what we need to do to be able to be healthy and be able to play at a high level.'"

from the outside looking in, some people might look at his timeline and say this was mishandled by the Indians or some doctor made the wrong call somewhere along the line. what's his take on this, the stopping and starting, the whole process? does he feel any aspect of it was mishandled? "i do not. i feel like i did everything in my power, so did the Cleveland organization. i felt great at times, and then at times i didn't feel so well. it's something that just happened. i'm not happy that it happened, i want to be out there and play with my team, of course. but at the same time, it's the cards that i was dealt, i understand that. but i did everything within this organization that they asked me to do and i know i gave it my all myself, so i don't think it was mishandled at all."

how is it doing every day stuff? getting dressed, that kind of stuff? "how was it or how is it now?" how is it now? "it's a little challenging to do with one arm. if you take one arm away and you're not allowed to use it and get dressed, it's a little bit of a challenge, but at the same time, you learn to adapt. luckily i'm left-handed. right shoulder, so i can have my dominant arm working."

can he brush his teeth and stuff? smiling wide, he insisted, "i can brush my teeth very good, yeah."

next, Bastian remarked, "it's good to have a nice teammate like Tomlin to help put your belt on today." "see that?" Michael kept smiling. clearly in good spirits, he quipped, "it's a little rough. gotta make adjustments along the way, it's not easy. so yeah, great teammate. great teammate of the day award so far."

did they tell him what the second operation was all about or did they explain anything to him that it was related to the labrum or anything like that? "absolutely. the shoulder's very complicated. your labrum and your bicep tendon are very close to each other and they connect at one point, and cross at one point as well. i just, i kept having the same occurrence that happened. everything kinda closed down on that bicep tendon and it'd get aggravated. and then it'd take a little while for it to get better and it'd get aggravated again. so it's kind of a trend that kept happening and the only way to fix it was to have surgery to remove it and put it in another location and that's what we did."

so they moved the biceps tendon and then re-placed it? "correct. mm-hmm."

he probably knows more about shoulders now than he ever wanted to know. "basically. but at the same time, i'm very knowledgeable what's going on. this is my second time kinda going through something similar, so i know what i have to do to get back on the field and stay the course of action and not try to rush it and not do too much and when i'm ready to go, i'm ready to go."

how important was it to do the surgery now as opposed to waiting like he did last year and having it linger into spring training? "it's very important. you just have extra time now. i know it's a four month rehab, but at the same time, i have a little bit of extra just in case, i don't have to rush it for anything to get back. my main goal is when i come in to spring training, day 1, that i don't have any limitability. i want to be able to play from, you know, the time they say 'play ball' to... the first day i get there, i don't want no restrictions at all, and just have a normal, easy camp going into it so i can get built up like i normally do. i think it's gonna be very important to do it that way."

so he can start the rehab once the six weeks, once he's out of that [sling]? "i've already started rehab. it's very minimal, it's very small, little movements here or there but, i started rehab almost three or four days afterwards."

Hoynsie's evening article on cleveland.com contained a video of Francona's afternoon presser where he spoke about Michael and his next comeback. "he'll come back and he'll find a way to be every bit as good as he's ever been because that's just kinda how he's built. when guys are hurt, whether it's real or imagined, there's a little bit of a wall that goes up, just cause you're not going through all the stuff that everybody else is. and for Brant, he is able to, whether it's climb over the wall or it doesn't exist, and it's because of him. not everybody can do that, but he carries so much respect in that room, in all the rooms--mine, the coaches, and the players--that he is able to do those things he was talking about. and i've seen him do it. that probably helps him, too."

additionally, from Bastian's indians.com article, Tito proclaimed, "nobody is ever going to second guess, ever, his commitment. the guys know what he's been through. that's part of it. and there's a lot of things about him that make you respect him, not just like him, but respect him. but that's one thing you'll never see suspect. guys know. if he could play now, he would. he'd take that sling off and play."

the guys also know Michael is going to need some assistance from time to time. that's why when Michael was laboring to get his belt through the loops of his pants in preparation for the team photo, Tomlin lent his own hand... but not until after having watched Michael attempt the task and laugh at himself as the scene played out for a minute lol

MY THOUGHTS QUICKLY: based on the research that i did and wrote up in the What Is Biceps Tenodesis? blog, i originally deduced Michael would be in a sling for three weeks. but yesterday when i read that he was going to have his stitches taken out, i then assumed he'd had the more invasive procedure done, and so needing to keep his sling on for a longer period of time--six weeks by Michael's admission--naturally makes sense. and hopefully that will give his shoulder plenty of time to heal up before anyone starts thinking about letting him swing a bat again.


Team Batting Title Competition

Michael is obviously out of this competition but i'm going to continue keeping track of the monthly winners.

the honor this month went to first-time leader Jose Ramirez, as he had the highest batting average (.350) out of all the qualifiers on the team.

this really shows you how the Indians are getting contributions from multiple players this season and that their victories truly have come from an all-around team effort. case in point, Francisco Lindor had the highest BA in April and May, Rajai Davis had the highest BA in June, and Tyler Naquin had the highest BA in July.


Versus AL Central Division Teams

when the Indians played the Minnesota Twins, Michael was still on the 60-Day DL with right biceps tendinitis. he was hitting off a pitching machine and had recently started hitting live pitching on the field during the first series, and later was done for the season after having had biceps tenodesis (surgery) for his chronic right biceps tendinitis during the second series. he missed all 7 games--4 away and 3 at home--in August against this team.

when the Indians played the Chicago White Sox, Michael was on the 60-Day DL with chronic right biceps tendinitis and recovering after just having had season-ending biceps tenodesis. he missed all 3 games in the August series.

the Indians did not face the Detroit Tigers or Kansas City Royals in August.


Interleague Play

Michael did not play any scheduled games against the National League in August, and therefore did not register a batting average in Interleague Play this month.

when the Indians played the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park (no designated hitter allowed), Michael was still on the 60-Day DL with a recent diagnosis of chronic right biceps tendinitis and had been shut down from his rehabilitation. he missed both games against this team in August.


August Team Leads, Career Highs, & League Rankings

because Michael did not play any Major League games this month, he did not have any team leads, career highs, or league rankings in August.


Did You Know?

did you know that Michael Brantley's in a commercial?!? it's not a personal endorsement of any kind, i might add, but i think it's still cool. i was totally caught off guard when i initially discovered this. it was on August 6 after midnight, on the new MTV Classic channel during their airing of MTV Unplugged: Nirvana. all the sudden i see the Indians scoreboard and field on the screen and at first it didn't register to me that this was a commercial. see, a few hours earlier, i had watched the Indians play against the New York Yankees on the YES channel. so it took me a second to realize, oh wait, this isn't the game, that's already over and besides, they weren't playing at home tonight. this is... a commercial. a commercial for Papa John's (the official pizza of Major League Baseball apparently). and...omg there's Brantley! he didn't have a huge part in it, he was just in the dugout, basically background to and smiling at Trevor Bauer's "role," but i didn't care. i was so excited to see Michael in a commercial along with some other Indians. it was pretty sweet. and, since Michael has been dealing with shoulder issues for much of this season, i'm glad he was included in a small way.

i'm also really happy it was a national commercial and not just an Indians ad that they only air in Ohio on STO, so that i can actually see it on TV in my town in Western New York. regrettably for me, seeing Michael in this commercial is more than i get to see him on a regular basis since Tribe games are blacked out here and i can't watch them unless they're on a national channel or a New York team's channel like YES or SNY.

oddly enough, the commercial hasn't been uploaded to youtube yet (doesn't everything get uploaded on there eventually?), but i did find it on August 8 on tvcommercialspots.com. click here if you haven't seen it yet.

okay, so maybe some of you already knew about the commercial. but you may not know all of the things in the "60 Seconds with Michael Brantley" video that was reposted in an unauthored cleveland.com article on August 18. the video was formerly uploaded on indians.com on March 5, but i'm positive it was taped during media day in February right after everyone had arrived in Goodyear, Arizona before spring games began. (over the past couple of weeks, they've been reposting each player's Q&A on cleveland.com, for whatever reason.) i never brought this up in my March updates blog, but since there's a lack of information this month, that gives me the perfect opportunity to do so here and transcribe it now.

WTAM 1100 radio broadcaster Jim Rosenhaus asked Michael the following:

favorite dugout snack? "sunflower seeds."

favorite road ballpark? "Fenway Park."

day games or night games? "night games."

most surprising song on your ipod? Michael looked to someone off camera and quietly confessed, "i don't have an ipod." (how did i know that? lol)

favorite type of music? "hip hop and R&B."

do you have a hidden talent? "i do not."

trade wardrobes with Rajai Davis or Cody Anderson? with a smile, he asserted, "Cody Anderson. i could pull off the country look."

go back in time or back to the future? "back in time."

handle the best man speech or lead the dance party after? "handle the best man speech."

neat freak or slob? "neat freak."

class president or class clown? "class clown," Michael beamed.

sing the National Anthem or bust a move with Slider on top of the dugout? "bust a move with Slider." (now THAT i would like to see.)


Hammy Says

if you miss Michael in action, this is the section for you. on August 22, during the late night, west coast game against the Oakland Athletics, i heard something that i hadn't heard in months and it came from Indians radio broadcaster Tom Hamilton. in a scoreless game in the top of the 7th inning, Mike Napoli was at 3rd base and Lonnie Chisenhall was at 2nd with 1 out. Tyler Naquin faced Liam Hendricks and struck out swinging after a 1-2 count for the 2nd out. then, during Abraham Almonte's at bat, Hammy told WTAM 1100 listeners, "this is where you really miss Michael Brantley." and then a light bulb went off in my head, making me think 'wow. no one's really even been acknowledging that Michael's a great player when he's healthy let alone claiming to be missing him in the lineup lately.' so my reaction to that was an emphatic "thank you!" lol and then Almonte also struck out swinging on four pitches to end the Tribe's threat. now if you want to get technical, Michael never would have been up at that part of the game because he wouldn't be batting in Almonte's place (that low) in the order. but still, point made.

Hammy reiterated the same thing again on August 25 in the game against the Texas Rangers. the Indians were getting blown out, 8-0, and Terry Francona had pulled some of his starters prior to the bottom of the 7th inning. that prompted Hammy to maintain, "this road trip shows how much they miss Michael Brantley. the lack of his impact bat is eventually going to hurt you." he alleged this because in the four games from August 22-25, the Tribe managed to score just three runs total. yes, Michael, you have been missed, and not just on that road trip, but all season.

as the Indians' offensive woes persisted, Hammy continued to go back to pining for Michael's bat. during the scoreless game on August 29 versus the Minnesota Twins, he first expressed that it was good to see Michael at the ballpark. (more on that can be found in the DL Updates section of the blog above.) then he assessed how "no team loses their best all-around hitter and doesn't eventually experience the impact." on the contrary, i say it's easy to speculate that they'd be doing better if Michael's bat was in the lineup, but you must remember that having his bat all year would have excluded someone else's. and with more than a few Tribe players on the verge of career seasons, it's hard to say what the true difference would have been. nonetheless, i of course appreciate Hamilton's sentiment, because if you have the opportunity to play Michael every day, you'd be pretty dumb to decline.



now let's break down the non-existent numbers for the month.

August batting average: N/A

OBP: N/A

SLG: N/A

OPS: N/A


Michael played in 0 (of 30) games in August.


he missed 7 games while he was still on the 60-Day DL with right biceps tendinitis.

he missed 6 games while he was on the 60-Day DL with chronic right biceps tendinitis.

he missed 17 games while he was still on the 60-Day DL with chronic right biceps tendinitis and recovering from season-ending biceps tenodesis (surgery).



now here are my game-by-game notes.

Game /103, August 1: still on DL.

Game /104, August 2: still on DL.

Game /105, August 3: still on DL.

Game /106, August 4: still on DL.

Game /107, August 5: still on DL.

Game /108, August 6: still on DL.

Game /109, August 7: still on DL.

Game /110, August 9: still on DL.

Game /111, August 10: still on DL.

Game /112, August 11: still on DL.

Game /113, August 12: still on DL.

Game /114, August 13: still on DL, Indians announce he will have season-ending surgery on 8/15.

Game /115, August 14: still on DL, shut down.

Game /116, August 15: still on DL, underwent biceps tenodesis, done for the season.

Game /117, August 16: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /118, August 17: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /119, August 18: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /120, August 19: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /121, August 20: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /122, August 21: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /123, August 22: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /124, August 23: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /125, August 24: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /126, August 25: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /127, August 26: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /128, August 27: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /129, August 28: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /130, August 29: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /131, August 30: still on DL, done for the season.

Game /132, August 31: still on DL, done for the season.



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 season batting average: .231 (9-39)

OBP: .279

SLG: .282

OPS: .561



for more details about Michael's overall season, you can refer to my Brantley's 2016 #s Through August blog.

and if you're interested in and haven't yet read the recent rehab blogs i've written, check these out:
Brantley's May - August 2016 DL Stint Updates & Rehab Game Details
Brantley's July 2016 Minor League Rehab #s (2nd DL Stint)
Brantley's Overall 2016 Minor League Rehab #s


NOTE: in case you were wondering, i WILL be posting a September/October blog once the regular season has ended. i will also be posting my typical Brantley wrap up blogs after that as well. yes, i know Michael's season is over, all his final numbers are in, and i could post everything now. but i still have to do some comparisons with other players and need to wait for their final season numbers to be official. plus, i just don't think it would be appropriate to put those up yet. not to mention, there could be update information between now and the Tribe's last game, so i'm going to hold off on that and simply post them at their regular time.

to get news and updates about Michael's recovery from surgery, make sure you're following me on twitter @clevelandgirl23. and to be notified whenever new blogs go live, you can sign up for my email subscription list over on the right side of the blog.

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