Brantley's Career High 612 Plate Appearances

i said i wasn't gonna blog about this because it's a little capricious, dependent upon things like games played, innings played, batting order position, number of batters who get on base per game, etc. but then i felt weird NOT making a blog about this, so fuck it. here goes.

Michael set another career high tonight, on September 12, in his first at bat of the game against the Detroit Tigers. Francona had Michael batting 3rd, his usual spot in the lineup, but he was DHing instead of playing the field. Francona knows Michael has played in every game so far this year except 5, and he's trying to give him a little "rest" without taking his bat out of the lineup. because let's be real, Michael's is one bat that the Indians badly need right now during their final playoff push.

so anyways, Michael was at the plate facing David Price with 2 outs in the top of the 1st inning. after a 1-2 count, Michael hit a single to left field, and with that, he set a new career high of 612 plate appearances. last season, Michael totaled 611 PA in 151 games, and now he's up to 612 already in 142 games. i think maybe his steady 3 BOP accounts for him breaking this record now, with a maximum of 15 more games still to go. he should finish the year with approximately 670-675 PA if he plays in every game left this month. (at the conclusion of tonight's game, his PA had increased to 615.)

at any rate, i was just very happy that he managed to get a hit and not record an out while accomplishing this new personal best lol there's no video because it wasn't a run scoring hit or anything fancy like that. but that doesn't take away from its importance. many congrats, Michael! =D

oh and btw, Michael will be setting yet another new career high during tomorrow's game. and since i wrote about this one, i will do a quick blog about that one as well. i can't help it. i love to write and i especially love to acknowledge his achievements ;D

Brantley's Career High 18 Stolen Bases

Michael just set his last career high less than 24 hours ago, but already tonight he's done it again! Michael set another new career high when he stole 2nd base in the bottom of the 1st inning during the first game of the Chicago White Sox series on September 5. now Michael has 18 stolen bases for the first time in a season. his previous career high was set last year, when he stole 17 bases, but he was caught stealing 4 times. so far this year he's only been caught stealing once, so Michael's had a better stolen base:caught stealing ratio for most of this season as well.

photo courtesy of The Plain Dealer (Chuck Crow)

let me get into the exciting details of this new feat, his 3rd new career high in 4 days and 5 games into September, no less! Michael was facing the tough lefty Chris Sale, a pitcher he hasn't had much success against in his career. coming into this game, Michael was hitting just 2-for-19 against Sale. i was worried that Michael would go 0-for-4 tonight (subsequently ending his 8-game hitting streak), so i never expected him to even be on base, let alone attempt to steal and set a new record. i'm terrible, i know lol so anyways, on the 5th pitch of a 1-2 count, Michael hit a 2-out line drive single to left fielder Michael Taylor. that was just the 17th hit a left-handed batter has recorded off Sale this season. lefties were only hitting .150 (16-for-107) against him before Michael's hit. so you can see why my worry was legit.

the next hitter in the inning was Carlos Santana. after a 1-2 count, as ball 2 was thrown, i heard Hammy say "the runner goes," and i was immediately concerned because Sale is a very tough pitcher to steal off of. more runners have been caught than have successfully stolen bases off him. but i guess Michael got a good jump and made it to 2nd base safely. then he advanced to 3rd base when catcher Tyler Flowers' throw to 2nd sailed into center field. after Sale threw ball 3 and the count was full, Santana then singled on a line drive to left field, and Michael scored the first run of the game to give the Indians an early 1-0 lead. (they later went on to win the game in walk-off fashion, 2-1, in 10 innings.)

i always thought Michael had the potential to be a minimum 20 base stealer per year, and i'm happy to see he's finally getting up towards that. it's almost a guarantee to say he should finish this season with at least 20 stolen bases. and even though he did just set a new high for himself, i won't accept anything less than 20 when 2014 is all said and done. i so desperately want him to be a 20-20 guy this year. (20 home runs, 20 stolen bases.) with 22 games left, i know he can do it and i believe he will! =D

although this is a personal best, Michael does not currently lead the team in this category.

photo cropped off Indians.com

he's 4 stolen bases behind Jason Kipnis at the moment, but Kip has been caught stealing 3 times. therefore, Michael's 18:1 stolen vs. caught ratio is better than Kip's 22:3 ratio, and it's also a team best ;D

so congratulations to you, Michael, yet AGAIN, on another record setting achievement. i am so proud to be able to say that i've been here every step of the way this season as your career year continues to unfold. it gives me great joy to see you becoming one of the premier baseball players in the league.


if you're having trouble keeping tabs on Michael's career year, here are links to the previous blogs i wrote about all the other career highs he's accomplished thus far:
hit by pitches, 6/10 (currently has 7)
home runs, 6/15 (currently has 18)
runs scored, 7/21 (currently has 85)*
extra base hits, 8/7 (currently has 59)*
total bases, 8/8 (currently has 262)*
RBI, 8/9 (currently has 87)*
hits, 9/2 (currently has 165)*
doubles, 9/4 (currently has 39)*

*denotes team high

Brantley's Career High 160 Hits

it's been a while since his last, but Michael Brantley set another new career high tonight in his first at bat during the game against the Detroit Tigers on September 2. he now has 160 hits in a season, beating out his previous career high of 159 hits, set in 2012.

Michael was facing left-handed pitcher Kyle Lobstein for the first time ever, and normally in that situation, the pitcher has the advantage. Lobstein threw Michael 3 straight balls and then 2 strikes. after the 3-2 count in the bottom of the 1st inning, Michael hit a 2-out single to right field, setting the new record for himself. he later scored a run when Carlos Santana hit a home run to give the Indians a quick 2-0 lead.

so congratulations again to Michael on another personal best! i am very proud of all of his career highs so far, especially these team leading 160 hits. talk about a "smooth operator" lol and with 25 games left to play, i think he can easily tack on another 20 hits to his new career high. you go, boy! =D


postgame edit:

Cody Allen blew the Tribe's 2-1 lead in the top of the 9th inning. that allowed Michael to bat in the bottom of the 9th, and he hit another 2-out single, this time to left field, off Detroit's closer Joe Nathan after a 3-1 count. that was his 2nd hit of the game, giving him 161 hits now overall. way to add onto that new career high quickly lol sadly, the Indians could not rally any further, and they lost the game, 4-2.

Brantley's Career High 11 Home Runs

Michael Brantley was not projected to be much of a home run hitter. year after year, writers talked about how he lacked power. and i would defend him against this, saying that with all the other things he does for the team, he doesn't need to worry about being a power hitter. well, i think Michael had enough of that because it's June 15, and he's already hit his 11th home run, most on the team by 3 right now. he leads the team in pretty much every category that matters, and it's pretty obvious he's on his way to the first All Star game of his career. there are more career highs coming, he's hitting too good right now for there not to be. he's going to shatter some of his other previous career highs this year, no question. but right now, let's talk about his latest feat.

with 2 outs in the top of the 1st inning at Fenway Park, Michael hit home run #11 on the 7th pitch of a 2-2 count from Brandon Workman of the Boston Red Sox. 11 home runs is now a career high for Michael. during his at bat, Hammy was talking about how Michael went 3-for-3 against Workman when we played Boston in Cleveland on June 9. so i thought back to what Michael did against him, and i remembered that was when he hit his 10th home run. so then i thought, "he's gonna hit another home run off this guy." because sometimes you just know, you can sense these things. the count was 1-2, then Michael fouled off 2 pitches in a row before ball 2 came. and then bam! the next pitch was hit to right field, just inside Pesky's Pole =D

picture courtesy of The Plain Dealer

i knew when this day came it would be special, for him as a player and for me as a fan. and maybe Father's Day (Michael's first officially) had something to do with it, maybe not. but either way, the pride i am feeling for this modest, underrated athlete is immense. it's going to be a season of happy tears for me, and i can't wait to see what he accomplishes next.