Brantley's March/April 2018 #s

hi, Brantley fans! i'm back with the first monthly blog of the 2018 regular season!📅 as i left off in my previous post, Michael Brantley was activated from the disabled list on April 6 after opening the year on the 10-Day DL. despite his time in extended spring, Michael received additional days off in April in an effort to make sure the left fielder didn't overexert himself as he continued to get back to playing on a regular basis again. (btw, if you haven't read my two Brantley's Cactus League 2018 Rehab blog posts, i will link them here: Rehab Details and Rehab #s. if you did already read them, thank you so much!🤗)

the team's caution seems to be working because so far, Michael's ankle has been holding up well and he repeatedly says he feels great. (we can't ask for more than that, right?) the DL stint and extra time off, however, resulted in Michael only playing in two-thirds of the games this month. nevertheless, there's a lot of things to discuss and i'm going to get into it all for you shortly. but first, i need to go over some important information.

ordinarily, i like to acknowledge viewers from countries who've never visited my blog before in my intro. well, i didn't see any new countries in my audience over the past month. my readers come from many different places all around the world and at this point, i think it will be a surprise if any newbies pop up here going forward. (i'd love it if they did though!) so instead, when no new views appear, i'm going to shout out the Top 3 countries to view my blog. in April, those include

Brantley Ranked 81st in MLBRank's Top 100 Players Right Now

let me start this off by saying i am shocked that a list of this nature is coming out now when we are approaching the midway point of baseball season. i waited for Baseball Tonight's Top 100 to be released during spring training for weeks, to no avail. apparently, MLBRank's list is the replacement and i was not expecting it. out with the old, in with the new i guess. in any case, i apologize for the lateness of this post.

photo courtesy of ESPN.com

MLBRank's Top 100 countdown commenced today and will run through June 30. each morning, 20 players will be posted on ESPN.com, starting with #100-81 and going all the way down to #20-1. (previously, players were

Brantley's Cactus League 2017 Rehab #s and My Predictions

this is the second part of Michael Brantley's Cactus League Rehab information. this blog contains Michael's numbers, statistics, and game lines from his rehab game appearances. i've also included a section at the end with my predictions for his 2017 regular season. the main focus here is on the spring numbers, but if you're interested in all of the details of Michael's daily hitting progressions during spring, or more specific information about his individual rehab game at bats and plate appearances, or pictures and videos of him, then please read my previous blog: Brantley's Cactus League 2017 Rehab & Game Details.

the format of this post will be easily recognizable to those of you who are longtime readers of my blogs. i've basically set this up like a monthly post by sectioning it into an overview, situational stats, fielding information, number breakdowns, and game lines. on the other hand, if you're new and unfamiliar with my typical layout, you can now begin to get accustomed to how i write my Brantley blogs.

note: Michael played in two minor league rehab games during spring and, just like last year, i could not get all the usual details and data that i like to document. for games of this kind, fans have no access to what's going on unless they physically go to the field that the games are played on. there's no way to watch them on TV or online, there's no way to follow along pitch-by-pitch on a Gameday, and there's no way to listen to Gameday audio because it doesn't exist. the only avenue to get info, if you're not in Arizona, is by

Is This Michael Brantley's Final Year as a Cleveland Indian?

it's not a question i wanted to pose and i hate being a Debbie Downer, but i haven't been able to get this off my mind for some time now. i do NOT want to see this happen under any circumstances but, unfortunately, there are many reasons that support this as being a real possibility. so i figured i should just write a blog and list out exactly why 2017 could be Michael Brantley's final year as a Cleveland Indian.😟

before i get started though, i want to discourage any smart-aleck remarks that this blog might produce. i am fully aware that a lot of fans at this point in time don't think Michael is ever going to get healthy and be able to play baseball again. and i've seen the "Michael should hang up his cleats" comments and tweets from fans. those people probably wouldn't think twice if Michael wasn't playing on the Tribe past this season, but i didn't write this for them. i wrote it because, as much as i don't want it to be true, i know that it could be and i felt compelled to acknowledge that. and i'm certain that Michael has other fans out there like me, who believe in him, have stuck with him through his difficulties, want him to come back, and would be genuinely upset if he were to leave the Indians any sooner than he has to contractually. so please save the "who cares?" utterances because some people still do.

note: i read the strangely similar rant article published by Paul Hoynes on February 19 on cleveland.com comparing Michael to

Brantley's March 2016 Hitting Advancements (Soft Toss to ON THE FIELD BP!)

so um, i don't know if you've heard...but i figure i should probably blog about the fact that...Michael Brantley is now playing in spring games! i repeat, Michael Brantley is now playing in spring games! how awesome is that?! bravo to a man who absolutely killed it in his rehab and crushed his original timetable.

when news of Michael's shoulder surgery broke back on November 9, 2015, i questioned whether or not he would be able to play in any games this spring, and if so, would he even get to play with the Indians in the big league camp? while the latter remains to be seen, hearing this good news is still very exciting and i'm extremely grateful for Michael's swift progress.

note: Terry Francona spoke with the media yesterday and officially announced that Michael would make his game debut on March 17 in a minor league game, but i wanted to wait and be sure it actually happened before i went ahead and posted this blog.

despite the month of March not being over, i didn't like the idea of combining Michael's hitting program updates with his spring training/rehab game info. therefore, this post will simply consist of Michael's continued hitting advancements in March up until today, his "game activation" point. then,

Brantley Lower Back Strain Timeline

i decided to write this blog to have some place to refer back to, with everything all listed out very clearly, just in case i need it at a later date. we don't know if this lower back strain will cause Michael to be shut down again or put on the DL at any point this season. although, after playing in 6 straight games with no further mention of any issues, things finally look promising. fingers crossed it stays that way.


first it was a sore lower back, then it was a tight lower back, and then it was a stiff lower back. idk if all those are technically the same thing medically, but it was not pleasant news to hear. eventually an MRI confirmed that Michael had a

Brantley's Spring Training 2015 #s and My Expectations

happy days are here again--it's baseball season!

i never really had much of an offseason this year because every time i turned around, Michael made it onto another list or was announced as a finalist for some prestigious baseball award. so i continually had to write new blogs from October to December, and even a few in January. not that i'm complaining. but i kept myself very busy with that, plus a new project i'm working on. stay tuned ;D

going into 2015, a big question on everyone's mind is what

Brantley's March/April 2014 #s

**blogger's note: it is important for me to make it known that this year i have been going through some health issues that i've never had to deal with before. it has been challenging, as i feel like crap almost on a daily basis. i am going to try my hardest to get these monthly blogs written and posted in a timely manner, but there may be times when i just can't get them posted immediately after the month ends. i have never been a slacker, it's just that now sometimes my health (or lack thereof) prevents me from doing what i love. my apologies in advance should this occur at any time this season and thank you for reading.


as my readers already know, i try to step up my Brantley documentation every year that i do it by providing more and more game details. i've added new colors to my color coding system in my notebook, but i don't think it's overwhelming to everything else that i normally keep track of. on top of that, i have a new section in my notebook dedicated to Brantley's ABs against right-handed vs. left-handed pitching; with RISP; with RISP and 0 outs, 1 out, and 2 outs; and with 2 outs in the inning. however, there is no way i am listing all those statistics here in my blogs. but you can be assured that because i am documenting those numbers daily, all of Brantley's #s here are accurate, even without me presenting the proof. now let's get to his first official blog of the 2014 season.


Michael's usual tendency is to start the season a little slow, and then by the end of April he normally takes off. that pattern did not hold true in 2014. Michael started out very well and was leading the team in almost every category on April 24. immediately after that, we faced some tough interleague play and unfortunately, Michael did not get one hit. that really brought his overall batting average down, as well as the BAs of his BOPs. every out in the month(s) of March/April takes the BA down a lot more than it would in say the month of August or September. this is not a good time to be slumping, because it will be a difficult hill for him to climb to get that average back up to something respectable.

however, as evidenced by some of his other numbers, he still amazingly had a productive month. Michael wasn't the only batter who had a rough start to the season, which explains why he still currently leads the team in some categories. not only that, but Michael even set a few career highs for himself. so it wasn't all bad.

it's still early right now, and even though i am disappointed in some of his numbers, i'm not yet worried or concerned that he can't come back from this. i believe he will get his average back up as the season continues. this could be a season similar to his 2012, where he started out slow and gradually built his numbers up as the year went on. Michael is just too good a hitter to keep trending down, he's got nowhere left to go but up.

Michael had a hit in 19 of the 27 games he played in March/April and reached base safely in 24 games. Michael reached base in 15 straight games from April 9 - April 24 as well.

he bat .246 (15-for-61) against right-handed pitchers and .270 (10-for-37) against left-handed pitchers. Michael usually hits both righties and lefties about the same, not to mention fairly well. so as the season goes on, i expect those numbers to get closer together.

Michael hit .310 (9-for-29) with runners in scoring position, 2nd highest on the team, and provided the team with 17 RBI. he also hit .250 (1-for-4) with 0 outs and runners in scoring position, .455 (5-for-11) with 1 out and RISP, and .214 (3-for-14) with 2 outs and RISP. with runners on base, Michael hit .326 (15-for-46) with 18 RBI. additionally, he's batting .667 (4-for-6) with 9 RBI when the bases are loaded, which is already a BIG improvement from a year ago. he finished with a team high 20 RBI, also a career high for March/April. his 20 RBI currently tie him for 7th in the American League and tie for 11th overall in the league. furthermore, Michael's batting .226 (7-for-31) with 2 outs.

a pleasant surprise this month was seeing Michael hit 4 home runs in just 7 games. 4 home runs is a team high and career high in the month of April for him. he didn't hit his 4th home run last year until June 19! so the fact that Michael has already hit 4 balls out of the park has many wondering if he's finally developed power. while the long ball is a nice thing for Michael to add to his repertoire, i certainly don't expect him to hit 24 homers this season. and as i've said plenty of times in the past, that's okay.

besides leading the team in home runs and RBI, Michael also leads the team with 25 hits and 42 total bases (career high). he's tied for the team lead with 4 stolen bases, another career high, and 13 runs scored. he's currently 4th on the team with 10 walks. out of all the regular starters, Michael has the least amount of strikeouts with 8. he also leads the outfielders with 3 assists, yet another career high for Michael for the month. his .255 BA is actually 2nd highest on the team when counting only the players with at least 60 at bats for the month. moreover, Michael is 2nd in SLG and OPS, and 3rd in OBP.

there's no denying these team rankings are very good, but something tells me these numbers won't lead or be near the top of the club for long. the players who are slumping now will eventually come out of it, and Michael's going to need to make up for his mini slump from his California road trip if he wants to continue being one of the best players on the team.

the M.O. for Michael so far this season is that he hits 5th in the lineup against right-handed starters, and 6th against the left-handed starters. while Bourn was on the DL, Michael played left field while batting 5th, and center field while batting 6th. conversely, Michael did play left and hit 6th against left-handed starters, as well as play center and hit 5th against lefty starters on occasion. also while Bourn was out hurt, Michael was part of a defensive switch in one game, moving from left to center field part-way through. as Bourn slowly started playing games again, there was one game where Michael moved from center to left field so Bourn could play center for the final inning, in order to give us a better outfield defensively. when Bourn came back for good, Michael started batting 6th and playing left field exclusively against the lefties. so it's a safe bet that Michael will now mostly be playing left field (as long as Bourn is healthy) and teetering between the 5th and 6th spots depending upon who's on the mound for the opposition.

i'm personally relieved that Michael seems to finally have more of a regular home in the lineup this year. and just like last season, right now he's thriving the most in the 5 hole. also like last season, that seems to be the best place for him to get more RBI opportunities and rack up that total as well.

now let's talk about defense. i was aware that Michael would be seeing more time in center field this season, but i never really anticipated that Tito would be moving Michael from left to center and vice versa during games. one such defensive switch came on April 2, when Michael went from left field to center and Raburn went from PH to left field. in the 7th inning, Raburn did not hear Michael call for a fly ball, his glove banged into Michael's, and that resulted in neither outfielder catching the ball. to my dismay, Michael was then charged with an error, putting an end to his franchise setting errorless streak as an outfielder. that record now stands at 247 consecutive games, but it could have been so many more had Raburn given way to the CF, as is the unspoken rule in baseball. for more details about this incident, see my previous blog here.

aside from that unfortunate error, Michael still played stellar defense in both left and center field. he made some spectacular catches as the center fielder, robbing players of extra base hits. he also had 3 very nice assists. two came as the left fielder, one during the Indians home opener game when he threw a runner out at the plate. the 3rd assist came while Michael was playing center field, when he threw a runner out who was trying to go from 1st to 3rd base. these 3 assists tie Michael for the most assists among outfielders in the American League so far.

wherever Michael plays in the outfield, he is one of the best defensive players on the team and undoubtedly makes our team defense better when he is out there. he recorded 47 putouts and made some tough catches look easy. i'm so confident in Michael that i'm going on record as saying Michael will not have another error for the rest of the year. we shall see if my confidence in him is warranted as the remainder of the season plays out.



now let's break down the numbers. i am going to document his March/April #s, the 5th spot #s, and the 6th spot #s, as well as the left field #s and the center field #s.


April batting average: .255

OBP: .327

SLG: .429

OPS: .756



Michael played in 27 (of 28) complete games in March/April. he started and played left in 19 games, completing 18 of those games. he started and played center in 8 games, completing 7 of those games. he was part of a defensive switch in 2 games, once moving from left to center during a game and once moving from center to left. he played 4 innings when moved over to center with 2 official at bats. he played 1 inning when moved over to left, with no official at bats. the one game he did not play in was just Tito giving him a day off.


Michael bat 5th in 18 games.

Michael bat 6th in 9 games.


Michael played left field in 20 games.

Michael played center field in 9 games.


in March/April, Michael had a total of 110 plate appearances and 98 at bats. here is how he fared:

25 hits

16 singles

5 doubles

4 home runs

20 RBI

1 sac fly

13 runs scored

10 walks

1 hit by pitch

4 stolen bases

3 GIDP

8 strikeouts (5 swinging, 3 looking)

5 first at bat hits

42 total bases



48 left on base

47 putouts

3 assists

1 error

234.0 innings, 27 games

(27 complete games)

March/April batting average: .255 (25-98) (27 games)



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



when Michael bat 5th in March/April, he had a total of 75 plate appearances and 68 at bats in 18 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

19 hits

12 singles

4 doubles

3 home runs

18 RBI

1 sac fly

9 runs scored

5 walks

1 hit by pitch

3 stolen bases

1 GIDP

5 strikeouts (3 swinging, 2 looking)

3 first at bat hits

32 total bases


39 left on base

29 putouts

3 assists

1 error

157.2 innings, 18 games

(18 complete games)

March/April batting average in the 5th spot: .279 (19-68) (18 games)


when Michael bat 5th and played left in March/April, he had a total of 70 plate appearances and 63 at bats in 17 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

17 hits

10 singles

4 doubles

3 home runs

14 RBI

1 sac fly

8 runs scored

5 walks

1 hit by pitch

3 stolen bases

1 GIDP

5 strikeouts (3 swinging, 2 looking)

3 first at bat hits

30 total bases


38 left on base

28 putouts

2 assists

144.2 innings, 17 games

(16 complete games)

March/April batting average in the 5th spot while playing left: .270 (17-63) (17 games)


when Michael bat 5th and played center in March/April, he had a total of 5 plate appearances and 5 at bats in 2 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

2 hits

2 singles

4 RBI

1 run scored

2 total bases


1 left on base

1 putout

1 assist

1 error

13 innings, 2 games

(1 complete game)

March/April batting average in the 5th spot while playing center: .400 (2-5) (2 games)


when Michael bat 6th in March/April, he had a total of 35 plate appearances and 30 at bats in 9 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

6 hits

4 singles

1 double

1 home run

2 RBI

4 runs scored

5 walks

1 stolen base

2 GIDP

3 strikeouts (2 swinging, 1 looking)

2 first at bat hits

10 total bases


9 left on base

18 putouts

76.1 innings, 9 games

(9 complete games)

March/April batting average in the 6th spot: .200 (6-30) (9 games)


when Michael bat 6th and played center in March/April, he had a total of 27 plate appearances and 23 at bats in 7 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

5 hits

3 singles

1 double

1 home run

2 RBI

3 runs scored

4 walks

2 GIDP

3 strikeouts (2 swinging, 1 looking)

2 first at bat hits

9 total bases


8 left on base

16 putouts

58.1 innings, 7 games

(6 complete games)

March/April batting average in the 6th spot while playing center: .217 (5-23) (7 games)


when Michael bat 6th and played left in March/April, he had a total of 8 plate appearances and 7 at bats in 3 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

1 hit

1 single

1 run scored

1 walk

1 stolen base

1 total base


1 left on base

2 putouts

18 innings, 3 games

(2 complete games)

March/April batting average in the 6th spot while playing left: .143 (1-7) (3 games)



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



when Michael played left in March/April, he had a total of 78 plate appearances and 70 at bats in 20 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

18 hits

11 singles

4 doubles

3 home runs

14 RBI

1 sac fly

9 runs scored

6 walks

1 hit by pitch

4 stolen bases

1 GIDP

5 strikeouts (3 swinging, 2 looking)

3 first at bat hits

31 total bases


39 left on base

30 putouts

2 assists

162.2 innings, 20 games

(18 complete games)

March/April batting average while playing left: .257 (18-70) (20 games)


when Michael played center in March/April, he had a total of 32 plate appearances and 28 at bats in 9 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

7 hits

5 singles

1 double

1 home run

6 RBI

4 runs scored

4 walks

2 GIDP

3 strikeouts (2 swinging, 1 looking)

2 first at bat hits

11 total bases


9 left on base

17 putouts

1 assist

1 error

71.1 innings, 9 games

(7 complete games)

March/April batting average while playing center: .250 (7-28) (9 games)



March/April #s while playing left: 30 putouts, 2 assists, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (162.2 innings, 20 games)

March/April #s while playing center: 17 putouts, 1 assist, 1 error, 0.947 fielding percentage (71.1 innings, 9 games)

March/April #s while playing the outfield: 47 putouts, 3 assists, 1 error, 0.980 fielding percentage (234.0 innings, 27 games)



now my game-by-game numbers and notes.

Game 1, March 31: 2-4, double, double. AVG: .500
(batting 5th/LF/CG9)

April 1: game postponed, to be made up April 2.
(6th/CF)

Game 2, April 2 (Day Game): 1-3, single (first at bat). AVG: .429
(6th/CF/CG8) 

^^Michael sets new franchise record with 247 consecutive errorless games in the outfield^^
**Michael's 247 consecutive errorless games streak ends**
 
Game 3, April 2 (Night Game): 1-4, walk, RBI groundout, 2-run single. AVG: .364
(5th/LF - 5 innings, CF - 4 innings/CG9)

Game 4, April 4: 1-4, reached on fielder's choice, 2-run single. AVG: .333
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 5, April 5: 1-4, single, run scored. AVG: .316
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 6, April 6: 3-5, single (first at bat), run scored, RBI single, single. AVG: .375
(5th/LF/CG9)

April 7: game postponed, to be made up April 9 in a traditional DH.
(6th/CF)

**Michael's 6-game hitting streak ends**

Game 7, April 8: 0-4. AVG: .321
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 8, April 9 (Game 1): 1-3, single (first at bat). AVG: .323
(6th/CF - 8 i, LF - 1 i/CG9)

Game 9, April 9 (Game 2): 0-3, walk. AVG: .294
(6th/CF/CG9)

Game 10, April 10: 1-4, double. AVG: .289
(6th/CF/CG8)

Game 11, April 11: 1-4, walk, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .286
(6th/CF/CG8)

Game 12, April 12: 1-3, 2-run single (first at bat), walk, walk, run scored. AVG: .289
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 13, April 13: 1-3, walk (first at bat), home run, run scored, reached on fielder's choice, reached on fielding error, run scored. AVG: .292
(6th/CF/CG8.1)

April 15: game postponed due to cold, to be made up July 19 in a day-night DH.

Game 14, April 16: 0-3, hit by pitch, stolen base. AVG: .275
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 15, April 17: 2-5, 2-run single, 2-run home run, run scored. AVG: .286
(5th/LF/CG8)

Game 16, April 18: 1-5, single, stolen base. AVG: .279
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 17, April 19: 0-3, walk. AVG: .266
(6th/CF/CG9)

Game 18, April 20: 2-3, home run (first at bat), run scored, RBI double, walk, run scored. AVG: .284
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 19, April 21: 1-4, 2-run home run, run scored. AVG: .282
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 20, April 22: 2-4, single, stolen base, run scored, single. AVG: .293
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 21, April 23: 1-3, single, stolen base, run scored, walk. AVG: .295
(6th/LF/CG9)

Game 22, April 24: 1-3, RBI single, run scored. AVG: .296
(5th/CF/CG9)

**Michael's 15-game on-base streak ends**

Game 23, April 25: 0-4. AVG: .282
(5th/LF/CG8)

Game 24, April 26: 0-3, walk. AVG: .273
(5th/LF/CG8)

Game 25, April 27: 0-3. AVG: .264
(5th/LF/CG8.2)

Game 26, April 28: 0-4, reached on fielder's choice. AVG: .253
(6th/LF/CG8)

Game 27, April 29: 1-3, double, RBI sac fly. AVG: .255
(5th/LF/CG8)

April 30: not in lineup.



i really hope that Michael will go on a hot streak in May. i'd love to see him string together a nice long hitting streak á la 2012 ;D