Brantley's August 2015 #s

hey there, Brantley fans! thank you for reading my Brantley's July 2015 #s blog and Brantley's 2015 #s Through July blog last month. i hope you enjoyed them. i also want to take a minute to say a special HI! to the viewers from Hungary, Singapore, Russia, and the United Kingdom who all visited my blog in the past month! thanks so much for stopping by and reading about Michael!

the offseason is fast approaching now. it's hard to believe after this, i only have one more month of stats to calculate before the 2015 season is over. things are really starting to heat up not only for Michael, but the Indians as well. can they continue to rack up wins and potentially grab a wild card spot? and what will Michael do for an encore in September? i can't wait to find out! but first, let's all relish in what turned out to be an astounding August for Dr. Smooth.



August Overview

there was seemingly no stopping Michael in August--the man was scorching hot! it was quite reminiscent of his MVP-caliber performances every month last season, when he was setting career highs and achieving things he'd never achieved before on the regular. he certainly didn't look like a player fighting through injuries, going through the dog days of summer, and/or battling just to make it to the end of the year. instead, he currently looks primed and ready for a stretch run. and now i am so excited to get into his monthly statistics, some of which are historical! =D

in Michael's first 10 games, he bat .425 (17-for-40) from August 1-13. he was then shut down for a few days with a little left shoulder inflammation. when he came back from that brief 3-day rest (which probably also did some good for his back), he played in 14 more games, batting .393 (22-for-56) from August 17-31. he saw some extra time as the designated hitter this month until his throwing shoulder was ready to carry the left field load, but no matter what his role, Michael put up the best month of his 2015 campaign yet. he earned an August batting average of

Brantley's July 2015 #s

how's it going, Brantley fans? boy this season seems to be flying by fast now. we've only got 2 months left...where has summer gone? anyways, i want to thank everyone who read my Brantley's June 2015 #s blog, Brantley's 2015 #s Through June blog, and Brantley's 2015 First Half #s blog. i also want to say a special "hello!" to the people who viewed my blog in the last month from Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Pakistan! i always get very excited when i receive views from outside the United States. it's so nice to see that there's interest in Brantley all over the world! welcome! =D

and i apologize that this blog is going up a little later than normal, but with the Indians finishing the month on the West Coast and playing late night games, i wasn't able to stay up as late to work on wrapping up his July #s. forgive me? ;D



July Overview

as always, i'm gonna be straight with you. at one point in the beginning of July, it was looking like this would be a long, sad month for Michael. in fact, i was mentally preparing myself for this to be his worst month of the season yet.

Brantley's June 2015 #s

how are ya, Brantley fans? thank you to everyone who read my last 2 blogs, Brantley's May 2015 #s and Brantley's 2015 #s Through May. i noticed i got a lot of views from France in the last month, too. merci! beaucoup d'amour à vous!


June Overview

if i was going to give Michael's June a title, i could easily call it "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." it was just an odd month for Michael. he had good games, he had bad games, and he had games where it looked like his back was killing him. he's no longer the consistent player that he's become known as, but i guess that's to be expected considering he's been battling a back strain since day 1 of spring. still, it's unfortunate.

Michael had at least 1 hit in his opening 9 games from June 2-13, batting .333 (11-for-33). but unlike last month, he didn't have a dominating first half of June. in his first 13 games, Michael bat .319 (15-for-47). by no means is that bad, but it wasn't enough to compensate for the remaining 11 games, when he bat only .273 (12-for-44). all-in-all he earned himself a June batting average of

Brantley's May 2015 #s

hello again, Brantley fans! i want to take a moment to thank everyone who read my last blog, Brantley's April 2015 #s, and also welcome some new readers--what's up Moldovans!

as i told you last month, there was going to be an additional change to my Brantley blog break downs that you would not see until now. well here it is. because of the plethora of numbers that i calculate for Michael, i have decided it would be best to do TWO blogs at the end of every month going forward: one documenting Michael's current monthly stats, and the other documenting his overall 2015 stats. so this blog will contain only his #s acquired in the month of May.

shortly after this goes live, i will post another blog with all of Michael's 2015 #s through May. the format for that should be quite similar to how i've been doing my past monthly blogs and will include the new changes i added this year as well. it's gonna be more work for me, but it should make things much clearer for you, which i hope everyone will appreciate.

now let's get into Michael's May.


May Overview

this is what continuing to play through a back injury looks like. all-in-all, it wasn't a

Brantley Sets Another Franchise Record with 19-Game Home Hitting Streak

on May 21, Michael Brantley hit a 2-out, 2-run single in the bottom of the 2nd inning, giving him an 18-game hitting streak at home. that also tied Michael for the longest hitting streak at Progressive Field by an Indians player. at that time, he shared the home hitting streak franchise record with Roberto Alomar, who last achieved it in 2000, and Kenny Lofton, who achieved it in 1996.

unfortunately, the next home game was not scheduled until May 30, so i had to wait all that time to find out if Michael would in fact break that franchise record and set a new one. so this blog may seem like it was posted very late, but i wanted to see if i could blog about Michael setting a new franchise record, rather than him just tying the record.

finally on May 30, a much anticipated game of the season for me, Michael broke the record around 9 pm in his 3rd at bat with a 1-out double in the bottom of the 5th inning! he now has a 19-game home hitting streak, and sits in the record books all by himself. not only that, but Michael's home hitting streak is currently the longest in the major leagues this season. and if that weren't enough, Michael also has an overall 15-game hitting streak going. he's basically on fire lol

screenshot i cropped from his record breaking video

during Michael's record breaking home hitting streak, he hit .408 (31-for-76) and recorded 18 singles, 7 doubles, 6 home runs, and 20 RBI with 19 runs, 7 walks, 1 hit by pitch, 4 stolen bases, and 56 total bases, while only recording 3 strikeouts (swinging) and 1 GIDP. also during this streak, he tallied 4 of his current 6 outfield assists.

breaking into the history books and going back to the days of the Tribe at Municipal Stadium, the last player to have a 19-game home hitting streak pre-Jacobs Field was Julio Franco. he recorded his streak from June 8-22 in 1984.

Michael's next task will be to try and break the longest hitting streak in Progressive Field history by any player who is not an Indian. that record currently stands at 22 games and is held by Elvis Andrus of the Texas Rangers. and i like Michael's odds.

so congratulations to Michael on setting yet another new record for himself and the Indians! remember, his first franchise record was set earlier in April with his 247 consecutive errorless games in the outfield, and he's set a second record now with this home hitting streak. something tells me there are more records to be broken by this man, whether franchise or career highs for himself, as Michael continues to play like an All Star and MVP this season.

and there's still a chance that Michael can add onto this new franchise record if he keeps hitting while playing at home. i think i will write a whole new blog if he resets the record to a much longer streak, including if he beats out Andrus' record. however, if he ends his streak say tomorrow, then i may just do a quick edit and add that information into this blog. either way, it's a hell of an accomplishment and i am so, so proud of my boy =D <3



**MAY 31 UPDATE**

to my dismay, Michael's 19-game franchise record home hitting streak is not to be extended any more. he went 0-for-4 on May 31, ending that streak as well as his 15-game hitting streak. i was at this game and i wanted him to get a hit more than anything. i felt terrible when his 4th at bat came and he had grounded out for the 3rd time. actually no, i was depressed. i know Michael probably doesn't give a fuck about personal hitting streaks and making Indians history, so why should i be fighting back tears over it like a little bitch? lol i can't help it. i just want him to do amazing things all the time and make his feats as untouchable as possible. is that really too much to ask? =P

but anyways, congrats again on the 19-game hitting streak at Progressive Field! i think it'll be a long time before another player even comes close to breaking your new franchise record ;D