Brantley's April 2017 #s

hey there, Brantley fans! guess what? Michael played a full month in the regular season and had no physical health issues! when was the last time i could claim that, right? his rehab was such a lengthy process, and i want to thank each and every one of you who followed his journey back to the majors along with me by reading all my blogs about his post-surgery progressions. (and in case you missed the two previous posts containing Michael's Cactus League Rehab information, i will link those HERE and HERE.)

that's all in the past now, fortunately, as Dr. Smooth seems to be rapidly returning to his normal self. and that means i am back in business re: writing a standard monthly blog. it's been a loooooong time since i've been able to do so and you have no idea how happy i am about it. but because it's been a while, i want to provide an outline of what you can expect to find in my monthly compositions. whether you're new to my blog or already familiar with it, this should be helpful in navigating your way around and trying to find the topics that you're most interested in reading.

to keep everything clear and separated, i divide my blogs into sections. this season, i've decided to switch around the order of my presentation a bit, but each month will typically include:
--a monthly overview
--health updates (if applicable)
--batting order position information/changes
--areas of concern
--team batting winner

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

Brantley's Cactus League 2017 Rehab & Game Details

Brantley fans! i have the best news for you all on this, our Indians' baseball eve! it was just formally announced today that we will see Michael Brantley open up the season on the 25-man roster and bat 3rd in the Indians' starting lineup tomorrow, April 3! Happy Day Before Opening Day, indeed! i could not be more ecstatic!😁

when i last left off in my previous updates blog post, Michael was starting to take live batting practice in the indoor batting cages. since then, he's taken live BP on the field, played in some simulated games, advanced to playing in minor league games, and then received clearance to play in Cactus League spring games with the Indians. he hit every benchmark that he needed to and now he's ready to begin the regular season.

making it to this point took a lot of hard work on Michael's part; it was such a long road back. i'm sure nobody wants the 2017 campaign to get underway more than him so he can finally join his teammates on the field again instead of watching and coaching them from the dugout. lead by example this year, boy!

i'm going to do this similarly to how i did it a year ago, by splitting Michael's Cactus League rehab information into two separate blogs so that there's not an overwhelming amount of stuff in one huge post. this first blog contains his daily rehab updates, quotes, pictures, and videos throughout the duration of Indians spring games. all of Michael's hitting progressions are included here, as well as

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 February 2017 Hitting Progressions (Pre-Spring Games)

Indians spring training games begin tomorrow! finally, the boys are back in action! well, all except one. sadly, Michael Brantley is not ready to play in spring games yet because the team is being extra careful with him and taking his rehab slowly. so as we wait for Michael to get the all clear, i thought i'd post an updates blog with details about his February hitting progressions--from tee work to batting practice!--prior to Cactus League games. there are a lot of photos of Michael in here, too!👍

and, in an unprecedented twist, FIVE different baseball writers published false information regarding Michael this month. not on purpose, of course, but it's quite astonishing that so many people would make mistakes within a similar time period and in relation to the same player. for three of these guys especially, that's a rarity because they are typically some of my most credible sources when it comes to all things Tribe. nevertheless, i called attention to those faux pas, as you would expect, and then corrected them, as you will soon discover.

before i get started though, if you'd like to see any of the updates between Michael's biceps tenodesis surgery on August 15, 2016, and Tribe Fest on January 28, 2017, check out

Brantley's January 2017 Hitting Progressions + Other News & Pics

hello there, Brantley fans! spring training is right around the corner and that's when we'll start to get a much better idea of where Michael is at physically and how he can handle the day-to-day activities that baseball requires of him. but for now, i have accumulated every bit of news that came out about Michael in the month of January, including his hitting progressions, rehab information, quotes, and pictures. so let's get into it!


January 3: Jordan Bastian tweeted that Michael began some non-contact swinging over the holiday break while back home and will continue his rehab in Cleveland this week.

January 4: in his first Indians Inbox of 2017 on indians.com, Bastian addressed Jonah Keri's statement on Michael--"this is a horrific, horrifically bad injury and there's some problems"--from December 23, 2016. Bastian sensibly pointed out that nothing else yet thus far supports Keri's claim and because this is the middle of the offseason, everything right now should be treated as speculation. he also remarked

Brantley News & Updates from November & December 2016

Happy New Year's Eve, Brantley fans! since the conclusion of the World Series, there really hasn't been a whole lot of notable information on the update front other than the plan for Michael's upcoming hitting progression being unveiled during the Winter Meetings. the rumor mill, however, was abuzz with unfounded gossip around the Christmas holiday. so before the clock strikes midnight and we start the new year, i present you with this last bit of news about Michael in 2016 from both November and December.


November News & Updates

November 4: the Indians twitter account reported that Michael is expected to resume baseball activities in December and be ready for spring training. Jordan Bastian followed up by tweeting the Indians are planning on Michael being ready for a normal spring training and will navigate the offseason with that expectation.

"Michael's progressing really well," Indians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti said in Bastian's article on indians.com. "he's right on schedule for his rehab." and from a video on indians.com, Antonetti further elaborated, "he'll complete all of his normal physical work and then begin baseball activities at

Wrapping Up Brantley's 2016 Season

from Michael Brantley's perspective, i cannot say i'm sorry to see the 2016 baseball season go. for him, it was unlike any other and certainly will not be mentioned in the "best of" seasons of his career. we basically got a taste of what Indians baseball will be like without Dr. Smooth in the (hopefully far off) future. except, in an unexpected twist, the team did not seem in desperate need of its best hitter this year; not until the end, that is. on the other hand, Michael can now claim that he's already had a bit of experience as a coach in Major League Baseball once he's a retired player since his main role in 2016 became providing his teammates with his baseball knowledge, guidance, and pointers.

this final wrap up blog is somewhat different from how i've previously done it. that's due to the fact that Michael didn't play a full season, and so i couldn't really give justifiable comments about it or do fair comparisons of it to his past seasons. additionally, it's being posted later than usual because the Indians recently completed a long playoff run and i wanted to include my thoughts on that in here as well. nonetheless, this blog consists of some highlights from Michael's playing time with the Tribe, quotes, and

Brantley's 2016 Postseason October/November (w/ Rehab Updates & Pics)

it may not have ended how Michael Brantley, the Cleveland Indians, and all their fans wanted, but this was one hell of a postseason October/November. congratulations to the Tribe for extending their 2016 season into the early hour of November 3 (crazy right?! lol) and making it an exciting one.

despite Michael not appearing in any postseason games or series, i of course still had to write this blog. the format of it follows my more recent Brantley monthly blogs, where he didn't play at all and i provided a recap of the Tribe's performance for extra content.

there are four sections in this blog. the first covers the overall postseason for Michael and the Indians. the second focuses solely on the ALDS, the third is all about the ALCS, and the fourth discusses the World Series as well as some rehab updates! each section contains subsections that include an overview, Michael news and pictures, and/or win celebrations. had Michael been healthy and played in these playoff games with the Indians, i for sure would have created separate blogs for each series. but since i didn't have any numbers to document and breakdown, i decided to combine everything into one postseason blog.

Brantley's Second Half 2016

before i start posting all of my Brantley wrap up blogs, i have to post about his (atypical) second half of 2016. for the first time in Michael Brantley's Major League career, he missed out on the entire second half of the year. he was still on the disabled list when baseball resumed after the All Star Break, and then his season-ending surgery in August ensured that he would not be playing again in 2016. therefore, he remained on the DL and was merely a spectator for the whole second half.

consequently, this was a bit of a challenge for me because i've never previously written a second half blog where Michael literally had no statistics, so there was no template for me to go by. that said, i did manage to write it and filled in whatever sections i could. honestly, this post is more for documentation purposes than anything else, so if it has no appeal to you, i understand. more blogs will be published as the week continues, and hopefully those will pique your interest.


post-All Star Break in 2016, Michael had no numbers of any kind.

2nd Half 2016 batting average:

Brantley's September/October 2016 (w/ Sling Updates)

what's up, Brantley fans? thank you so much to all those who read my Brantley's August 2016 blog and Brantley's 2016 #s Through August blog. and hello to the people in Chile and Pakistan who've come here over the past month! welcome and feel free to browse through whatever posts you like!

because Michael did not play in any September/October games, most of the typical sections in this monthly blog are either devoid of stats or have been excluded. there was also a serious lack of information in regards to post-surgery updates, and the majority of what i wrote about that came from my own personal observations. otherwise, there wasn't a whole lot going on in terms of Michael news. in the end though, i did manage to create FOUR new blog sections that i think will be of interest to you guys, so read on!


notes: at this time, i always like to clarify that September and October are combined as one month. this is common practice throughout baseball when the regular season extends into the beginning of October because there's really no point in singling out October stats since so few games are played. (it's the same any time the season opens up in late March; March and April are always considered one month as well.) therefore, whenever "the/this month" is written throughout this blog, know that i am referring to both September/October as one month despite the fact that Michael didn't play in either September or October. i have also used "September/October" continually in each section below even if the particular thing i'm discussing occurred in only one of the two months and not the other (ie. the interleague series in early September).

Brantley's 2016 #s Through August

by now i'm sure everybody has heard that Michael Brantley's 2016 season officially came to an end when he underwent biceps tenodesis for his chronic right biceps tendinitis on August 15. the good news is he's expected to make a full recovery in four months. the bad news is he has no chance to build on his numbers for the year anymore. as a result, this is going to be another "#s Through" blog much like the previous two i've posted. once again, if you see (unchanged) next to a section, it means nothing was added to it, and sections without that marking include new/different information from the last time you viewed them.

note: even though Michael's season is over and his statistics will not be changing, i am going to continue using the present tense when listing them below. i'm also still going to address his numbers and stats throughout this blog using the terms "through August" and "after five months" simply to keep the timeline of the season straight. however, i am no longer using "so far" and "thus far" when describing his stats because they are indeed final.


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 August:

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

What Is Biceps Tenodesis?

if you recall, after Michael Brantley had his labral tear surgery on November 9, 2015, i did my own research in order to get a better idea of what he'd just endured. so you should have seen this coming lol

what exactly is the biceps tenodesis procedure that Michael had done to his right shoulder on August 15 in Dallas, Texas by Dr. Keith Meister and Dr. Mark Shickendantz? i'm sure most of his fans want to know, none more than i. while Indians' head athletic trainer James Quinlan shared in Jordan Bastian's article on indians.com that it consisted of cutting the biceps tendon and anchoring it to a different part of the shoulder, i wanted more details.

following a quick google search, i found two articles via shoulderdoc.co.uk and rothmaninstitute.com that helped explain the procedure and its purpose further. basically, it involves detaching the long head of the biceps tendon from its superior labrum in the shoulder and reattaching it to the humerus bone just below the shoulder. in doing this, the pressure is relieved from the

Brantley Undergoes Biceps Tenodesis, Recovery Will Take 4 Months

as i previously posted in my most recent blog, Michael Brantley was scheduled to have season-ending shoulder surgery yesterday on August 15 in Dallas, Texas in the hopes of relieving his chronic right biceps tenditinis. today, on August 16, some information about the surgery was announced. according to the Indians Press Release, Michael underwent a 45-minute procedure called biceps tenodesis to address the biceps tendinitis in his right shoulder. Dr. Keith Meister and Dr. Mark Shickendantz both performed the operation. while doing so, they confirmed that Michael's labrum repair was intact and the remainder of the shoulder joint looked good. he is expected to make a full recovery in four months.

photo cropped off indians.com

via Paul Hoynes' article on cleveland.com, the Indians believe Michael should have