Michael came into the month of August very close to breaking
several personal records. and he did, achieving career highs in extra base
hits, total bases, and RBI. that's when it looked like he was going to have an August
for the ages. but then he hit the wall in Cincinnati. literally. and despite
him insisting that his knee/legs were fine, the numbers say otherwise. Francona
gave his legs a rest by having him DH in the NY series. but after that, Michael
had trouble at the plate. he had a slump unlike any other this season, in that
it took a good 11 games before he really came out of it. as a result, his
batting average went from mid-.320s to under .310 for the first time since the
beginning of June. he still hit balls hard, had line drive outs, and was
robbed of a few base hits, but he had some equally bad at bats as well.
before Michael achieved that new personal best in RBI, he set career
highs in extra base hits and total bases this month. he got his
career high 48th extra base hit on August 7, then followed that up with career
high 223 total bases on August 8. he led the team in both categories on those
dates and still leads the team with 57 and 253, respectively. Michael will no
doubt add onto these highs right up until the season comes to a close and i'm
very anxious to see what his final numbers turn out to be.
besides leading the team in RBI (85)*, extra base hits (57)*, and total bases (253)*, Michael leads the team with: 158 hits*, 101 singles*, 37 doubles*, 81 runs*, 7 hit by pitches (tied)*, 130 games*, 565 plate appearances*, 510 at bats*, .310 BA*, .368 OBP*, .496 SLG*, and .864 OPS*. he currently has the best stolen base:caught stealing ratio (17:1)* on the team. he also leads the outfielders with 11 assists*, 226 putouts, and 1096.1 innings.
he's 2nd on the team with 18 home runs*, 5 sac flies, and 17 stolen bases*, and he’s tied for 2nd with 43 walks*. he has the least amount of strikeouts with 48* as well.
(*denotes these are also career highs for Michael through August. these rankings include qualifiers only.)
Michael surpassed his previous August highs in several categories. after doing my research, i found that Michael set career highs for himself in the month of August with the following: 30 hits, 13 extra base hits, 49 total bases, 10 doubles, 3 home runs, 19 RBI, 1 intentional walk, 113 plate appearances, 105 at bats, .467 SLG, and .794 OPS.
time for other fun facts about Michael's season through August. he's hit safely in 49 of 61 home games and 99 of 130 games overall. he now has 44 multi-hit games, or he's multi-hit in 33.8% of the games he's played in. he's recorded an RBI in 57 of 130 games (43.8%), and has 20 multi-RBI games. plus, Michael has 24 go-ahead hits and 27 go-ahead RBI, the latter ranking near the top in the American League. he also has a team high 13 games with 3+ hits this season.
moving on to defense, as i mentioned earlier, Michael split time between both center and left field this month. for the fourth straight month, he did not commit any errors, giving him a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in August. he didn't have a whole lot of balls hit to him though, so he only had a total of 36 putouts. there were several games where Michael only recorded one putout, and sometimes none. and because he was the DH for 4 games, he lost out on putout opportunities then, too.
Michael added 1 more assist to his total this month. his 11 total outfield assists are tied for 4th most in the American League and in the major leagues. Nick Markakis of the Baltimore Orioles also has 11 assists. Melky Cabrera of the Toronto Blue Jays is 3rd in the AL with 12 assists, while Jackie Bradley, Jr. of the Boston Red Sox is 2nd with 13. the leader right now is another Boston Red Sox outfielder, the incomparable Yoenis Cespedes with his 14 outfield assists.
let's face it, Michael Brantley and the word "slump" don't
normally go together, but they did for a big portion of this month. he had a
very hard time in four straight series, against the Orioles, Twins, Astros, and
White Sox. in the 6 games against the O's and Twins, he bat 2-for-22 with just 1
home run, 2 walks, and 2 stolen bases. then he was held hitless in the first
game in the Astros series, bringing his slump to 2-for-26 (.077) in 7 total games. he
was not swinging the bat the way we've grown accustomed to seeing "Dr. Smooth" swing the bat. he wasn't having many
quality ABs and it was also reported that he didn't look comfortable in the
batter's box. the overall slump got up to 2-for-27 before Michael finally hit
an RBI single in the second game against the Astros. that RBI hit also broke an
0-for-15 slump within the 2-for-27.
the timing of this series against the Astros couldn't have
been worse. yes, interleague play for the Tribe was technically over with by
this point, but the Astros have only been in the American League for one year
and Michael is not that familiar with their pitchers yet. i viewed this Houston
series as basically another IL series for him, which he hasn't performed well in
this year. thankfully, he got the third game off, combined with a Monday off
day to get extra rest. and with a lefty starter pitching that third game, i was
really glad Francona let him sit out.
but, already going into the Houston
series struggling, this is when his batting average had noticeably dropped. and
him going hitless in 5 of the 8 games had me questioning his health. even after
that second game against the Astros, when both he and Francona claimed his leg
soreness was gone, i still had my concerns. Francona said, "i think during the
season you go through periods where, like in Minnesota,
he took several good swings and fouled balls back. he just missed them. and
then once you sometimes miss your pitch, then you're kind of in the hole."
after the second game against the White Sox, Michael was 4-for-38
(.105) in 10 games. the slump increased to 4-for-41 before he hit an RBI single in the
final game of the White Sox series. when that game was over, he was 5-for-42 (.119) overall
in 11 games. but it was then that i could tell he was coming out of it. that
was proven to be true when Michael had a very good end-of-the-month series
against the Royals, going 6-for-15 in 3 games. that's 1 more hit in 3 games than all during his previous 11 games! he needed that desperately
because who wants to go into the final month of the year in a slump?
Michael's .286 August batting average is the lowest monthly
average he's put up since April. and while that's not terrible a BA, when you compare
it to how great he did in each of the preceding 3 months, you realize he had a
bit of a tough go 'round this time. it's funny though how Michael still racked up 19
RBI, a normal indication of a very productive month. he also improved his
hitting against left-handed pitching, with RISP, with RISP and 2 outs, and with
2 outs in an inning. how about that? it's a good thing he did extremely well in
the beginning of the August, as that partially compensated for his struggles
over the last 2 weeks.
consequently, for the first time this season, Michael's
batting average decreased by 6 points from the end of last month. his current .310
batting average ranks 7th in the American League, 9th in the
majors, and 3rd among major league outfielders. all things considered,
a slump in August is better than one in April or May, given that it doesn't affect
the BA as much. conversely, i think the slump killed any chance he may have had
at the AL batting title. because even if he gets a lot of hits next month, hits in September don't help increase BA that much unless you have several multi-hit games in a row. (remember, he had 30 hits in 26 games this month and his BA still went down.) could
he still be in the batting hunt if maybe he'd gotten a few extra days of rest? after
all, he has played the most games he's ever played in a season right now
through August. so that's definitely a thought in my head, but it's hard to say.
before the season, i never expected Michael to finish the
year batting anywhere close to .320. but
once he got up there during the year, he honestly made me a believer. since May
21, his BA has only been under .300 once, when it was .298 on June 8. the fact
that he kept it up for so long made it seem possible that he could finish
somewhere in the .320 range. that said, for Michael to be able to boast a BA
over .300 going into the final month of the season shows he's done something
right, or rather, a lot of somethings right, this year. and really that's all that
counts.
i can't be mad at a guy who's batting .310 when that is
still a career high for him at this time of year. i know he's going to take
that momentum from the KC series and use it to bounce back in the final month. i
cannot see him struggling for the whole remainder of the season. that's not
happening. in fact, i think it's highly likely that he'll have some more hitting
spurts in September. whatever BA he has after that final September game is of
little importance. i really don't even care if he ends up in the .290s. Michael's
overall performance this year has been nothing short of incredible. he's doing phenomenal and has already put up a year so much better than all of his
teammates right now. he's been the MVP of the team, for sure, and i can’t be
anything but proud of him.
as for the team batting race, Michael should have taken that
bet with Chisenhall because even while Michael's bat cooled down a little this
month, Chiz did not keep up his hitting at all. he finally fell under the .300
mark on August 6 and hasn't gotten back since. Francona claimed he was getting
tired and that pitchers were adjusting to Chiz. so then Francona began "picking his
spots" again, aka babying him and resting him against some of the tougher lefty
starters. sometimes i wish he would do this with Michael, or at least give him
more rest against left-handed pitchers. which brings up another issue i want to
address.
for the last 2 months, Michael has just not been hitting up to par against lefties. idk what it is. the
doubleheader against Arizona this
month was an opportunity for him to really improve upon his left-handed
pitching stats, since AZ was starting 2 lefties. but Michael could only muster
2 hits total against the starters in both games. fucking interleague. (however, this DH concluded the Indians IL play for the season. so Michael, who
struggled mightily against NL pitching this year, will not be plagued by this
issue next month.) fortunately, there are way more right-handed pitchers in the league,
and he's doing sensational damage against righties. therefore, his lefty
problems haven't been much of an overall factor.
speaking of not hitting, the majority of Michael's outs
continue to come from grounders, although he is still hitting some laser line
drives that result in outs and inevitably rob him of hits. he's now compiled
180 groundouts vs. 143 flyouts so far this season, and he remains the team
leader in both categories. Michael also still has the least amount of
strikeouts among the regular players. his overall 8.5% strikeout rate in
565 plate appearances barely went up from the end of last month (.1% increase).
when you consider that some players on the team have a K rate between 18-23%,
Michael is really doing outstanding in terms of making contact in the batter's box.
i read a short excerpt in an article in early August stating
that, unlike many hitters, Michael does not take underhand flips in the batting
cage. he prefers extensive work off a tee to concentrate on maintaining
repetition of his swing, and i believe this is partly why he has such a high
contact rate at the plate. Michael said, "good
or bad that day, i know i prepared the same way and i was ready for the game. i
just try to take the best swings i can and swing at good, quality pitches. i
don't always look at results or what happens. my whole goal is to get the
barrel to the ball as consistently as possible. the results will come after
that."
Michael saw almost equal time in center and left field this
month. he returned to
left field on August 16 when Bourn was finally ready to play center field
again. Michael did a great job filling in as the center fielder and even got
himself one assist there this month. but since Bourn's been back, Michael has
only played left field. so i don't anticipate him being in center anymore this
year, especially with rosters expanding in September. i think it's pretty safe
to assume that the total CF numbers as documented here will be his final 2014
numbers as well. and, if that is the case, i can say that i'm happy with the way his CF fielding percentage has
improved since the April "error."
ending my search for perpetual regularity for a change,
Michael spent the entire month in the 3 hole of the batting order. Kipnis
remained the leadoff man until Bourn came back, and the 2nd spot was mostly
occupied by either Mike Aviles or Jose Ramirez. Michael didn't have as many at
bats with 2 outs in an inning this month versus July, but he still had more than most players. as
Bourn got back into the swing of things, he was getting on base more, as was
Ramirez once he got more comfortable at the plate. that meant Michael had more
RBI opportunities in his first at bat in a lot of games. sometimes he
delivered, sometimes he didn't. but all-in-all i've been relatively pleased with the
way his 2-out hitting has improved.
during Michael's slump this month, which spanned a solid week
and a half, he left a lot of men on base and RBI opportunities went to waste. actually,
even when Michael was hitting well and acquiring RBIs, he still left players on
base. (let me just make that clear.) but, when a player goes through a
significant offensive snag and comes up to bat with men on or runners in
scoring position, and then can't deliver, it hurts. it hurts the team and it
hurts certain statistical categories for Michael. still, regardless of the rough
patch he had this month, he managed to finish with an improved batting average
with runners in scoring position, and specifically with 2 outs and RISP. that
just might be the toughest time to deliver in a game, and Michael came
through quite a bit in that instance in August.
on the flip side, Michael was left on base more than a few times this month when nobody behind him in the lineup could get him home. he only scored 10 runs in August, and 3 of those resulted from his own home runs. Carlos Santana is the designated cleanup hitter batting immediately behind him, and he's recently emerged as the 2nd best runner producer on the team. the 5th spot and below is where things can get dicey. that's usually rotated between Chiz, Yan Gomes, and Kip. Kip's been having a rough season, Chiz is cooling off, and Gomes has his good and bad games. so it's not just Michael who's guilty of leaving men on base. i'm hoping next month that more batters will bring him home after he gets on. i would love to see him finish the season with 100 runs. but this is one category that he really has no control over; it's dependent upon the hitting of his teammates that follow him to the plate.
as i said in the blog last month, Michael's aggressive hitting and first pitch swinging attitude is here to stay. he still jumps on a lot of pitches early in the count and, even though it makes me nervous, he's shown he can get the job done that way. in some cases it was almost like, the quicker the at bat, the better it turned out for him lol i refuse to sit here and complain or argue with his logic because the general results have been favorable. so keep it up!
on the flip side, Michael was left on base more than a few times this month when nobody behind him in the lineup could get him home. he only scored 10 runs in August, and 3 of those resulted from his own home runs. Carlos Santana is the designated cleanup hitter batting immediately behind him, and he's recently emerged as the 2nd best runner producer on the team. the 5th spot and below is where things can get dicey. that's usually rotated between Chiz, Yan Gomes, and Kip. Kip's been having a rough season, Chiz is cooling off, and Gomes has his good and bad games. so it's not just Michael who's guilty of leaving men on base. i'm hoping next month that more batters will bring him home after he gets on. i would love to see him finish the season with 100 runs. but this is one category that he really has no control over; it's dependent upon the hitting of his teammates that follow him to the plate.
as i said in the blog last month, Michael's aggressive hitting and first pitch swinging attitude is here to stay. he still jumps on a lot of pitches early in the count and, even though it makes me nervous, he's shown he can get the job done that way. in some cases it was almost like, the quicker the at bat, the better it turned out for him lol i refuse to sit here and complain or argue with his logic because the general results have been favorable. so keep it up!
Michael
had a hit in 19 of the 26 games he played in August and reached
base safely in 21 games. Michael reached base in 11 straight games
from July 25 - August 5. he had 7 0-fers this month, including 5 in 7 games
from August 15-22. he only managed to reach base in 2 of the 7 games he went
hitless in, by way of a walk and a fielding error.
Michael had 5-straight multi-hit games, for the 3rd
time this season, from July 31 - August 4. during his streak, he bat .524
(11-for-21) with 11 hits and 18 total bases. he hit 2 doubles, 1 triple, and 1
home run, totaling 4 extra base hits. he also had 6 RBI, 4 runs, 2 walks, 2
stolen bases, and 2 strikeouts. his OBP was .565 and his SLG was .857, giving
him a 1.422 OPS. no Indian has had 3 5-game multi-hit streaks since Albert
Belle in 1994. furthermore, Michael's 3rd streak of this nature was the most
multi-hit game streak in the majors since 2009, when Ichiro Suzuki had 4
streaks of 5+ multi-hit games with the Seattle Mariners.
Michael is now batting .333 (116-for-348) against
right-handed pitchers and .259 (42-for-162) against left-handed
pitchers. his average against righties went down a little bit this
month, which should have been expected considering the length of time that he
was slumping. but his average against lefties actually went up a tiny bit. very tiny. i
still don't think Michael's hitting at his full potential against southpaws,
and he may not get there before the season ends. but he's better than this, so
it's hard to see him get more outs than hits against those lefties. that said,
i would consider it a huge success if he could bump that average up to .280 by
the time 2014 is over.
Michael's batting .343 (83-for-242) at home, with
51 RBI and .280 (75-for-268) on the road. he's still wearing his bats out at
Progressive Field as he continues to be one of the best home hitters in the
American League. and i'm particularly satisfied that he can also hit away from home.
there are some players who, for whatever reason, cannot spread their hitting
around all the different ballparks. but Michael is not intimidated by
the road, and his BA there remains steady.
it's fairly obvious that Michael is leading the team in RBI
because he knows how to deliver when runners are on base and in scoring
position. he's now batting .354 (45-for-127) with runners in scoring
position, totaling 66 RBI, a large increase from the end of last month.
that increase is mainly due to his much improved batting average of .315
(17-for-54) and 24 RBI with 2 outs and RISP. he's also hitting .304
(7-for-23) with 0 outs and runners in scoring position, a little decrease from
a month ago, as well as a steady .420 (21-for-50) with 1 out and RISP. additionally, Michael
is batting .341 (71-for-208) with 71 RBI with runners on base,
and .545 (6-for-11) with 18 RBI when the bases are loaded. once
again, Michael had several at bats with 2 outs, and also once again, he's been
excelling at that, now batting .290 (53-for-183) with 30 RBI with 2 outs
in an inning.
Michael hit 3 more home runs in August. so if we add that to his home run total through July, his new career high is 18 home runs. i knew this would most likely be the month that Michael finally passed his father's career high home run total, and he did it pretty quickly by hitting his 16th home run on August 3. that home run was also his 2nd walk-off homer of this season. but honestly, i was kinda more excited about it making Michael the new Brantley in the family with the most home runs in one season.
Michael hit his 18th home run on August 16, which just happened to be a 2-run homer--his first 2-run homer since his 6th home run of the season back on May 8. that means he hit 11 straight solo homers (#7-17) before someone was finally on base again during his "swing and a drive to deep right field!" lol my only question now is, can he acquire at least 2 more homers next month to give him a total of 20 for the year? i think he can.
Michael hit 3 more home runs in August. so if we add that to his home run total through July, his new career high is 18 home runs. i knew this would most likely be the month that Michael finally passed his father's career high home run total, and he did it pretty quickly by hitting his 16th home run on August 3. that home run was also his 2nd walk-off homer of this season. but honestly, i was kinda more excited about it making Michael the new Brantley in the family with the most home runs in one season.
Michael hit his 18th home run on August 16, which just happened to be a 2-run homer--his first 2-run homer since his 6th home run of the season back on May 8. that means he hit 11 straight solo homers (#7-17) before someone was finally on base again during his "swing and a drive to deep right field!" lol my only question now is, can he acquire at least 2 more homers next month to give him a total of 20 for the year? i think he can.
another thing that excited me was when Michael got his
career high 74th RBI on August 9. he finished the month leading the team with 85 RBI, his current new career high
in this category. his 85 total RBI rank 4th among American League outfielders, 6th
among major league outfielders, 9th in the American League, and 13th overall in
the majors. whatever his RBI total for the season ends up being, i will be so
proud of him. but it would be absolutely astounding if he finished the year with
triple digit runners batted in. i would be completely flabbergasted with amazement.
Michael's 19 RBI this month was much improved from the last
2 months. he still left 38 guys on base in the 26 games he played, but if that
somehow equals 19 ribbies, i can't care too much about it lol he's not going to
drive every guy home, and if he had, he definitely would have set a record. i'm
just glad that other guys in the lineup are hitting and getting themselves on
base, to take some of the pressure off Michael.
because Michael hit 3 more home runs this month, it's time
to update his HR/RBI ratios. 14 of his 18 home runs have been solo, while the
other 4 were 2-run homers. this means that 14 of his 85 RBI (16.5%) have come from
solo homers, and 22 of his 85 RBI (25.9%) have come from all 18 of his home
runs. both of those percentages decreased from last month, proving Michael
doesn't need to go yard to be effective. and while i'm still waiting for that 3-run
homer, i'd love it more if he could just total 20 home runs by the end of
the season.
besides leading the team in RBI (85)*, extra base hits (57)*, and total bases (253)*, Michael leads the team with: 158 hits*, 101 singles*, 37 doubles*, 81 runs*, 7 hit by pitches (tied)*, 130 games*, 565 plate appearances*, 510 at bats*, .310 BA*, .368 OBP*, .496 SLG*, and .864 OPS*. he currently has the best stolen base:caught stealing ratio (17:1)* on the team. he also leads the outfielders with 11 assists*, 226 putouts, and 1096.1 innings.
he's 2nd on the team with 18 home runs*, 5 sac flies, and 17 stolen bases*, and he’s tied for 2nd with 43 walks*. he has the least amount of strikeouts with 48* as well.
(*denotes these are also career highs for Michael through August. these rankings include qualifiers only.)
Michael surpassed his previous August highs in several categories. after doing my research, i found that Michael set career highs for himself in the month of August with the following: 30 hits, 13 extra base hits, 49 total bases, 10 doubles, 3 home runs, 19 RBI, 1 intentional walk, 113 plate appearances, 105 at bats, .467 SLG, and .794 OPS.
time for other fun facts about Michael's season through August. he's hit safely in 49 of 61 home games and 99 of 130 games overall. he now has 44 multi-hit games, or he's multi-hit in 33.8% of the games he's played in. he's recorded an RBI in 57 of 130 games (43.8%), and has 20 multi-RBI games. plus, Michael has 24 go-ahead hits and 27 go-ahead RBI, the latter ranking near the top in the American League. he also has a team high 13 games with 3+ hits this season.
compared to other qualifying outfielders in the American
League, Michael is ranked 1st in doubles (37); 2nd in batting average (.310);
tied for 2nd in runs (81); 3rd in hits (158), extra base hits (57), and OPS
(.864); 4th in RBI (85), OBP (.368), and SLG (.496); 5th in total bases (253);
and tied for 7th in home runs (18). in addition, his doubles rank tied for 3rd,
total bases 7th, OPS 8th, SLG 9th, and OBP 10th in the AL. among all
major league outfielders, Michael is 1st in doubles, and he's tied for 5th overall in
the majors in 2-baggers as well.
ready for the highlights and lowlights portion of my blog?
well let me start with the biggest change for Michael this month. on August 1, i
learned that Michael's request to move his locker in the clubhouse was approved
by clubhouse boss Tony Amato. he's taken over the locker once occupied by
Justin Masterson, who was just traded 2 days ago, which is considered one of the
most desired spots in the locker room. Michael's locker is now in a corner
that's somewhat hidden by a post. that seems to suit his personality more, as
opposed to where his old locker was, right in the middle of the action on the
open wall near the clubhouse entrance. new locker, new Michael?
on August 3, Michael hit his 2nd walk-off home run this
season, making him the first Indians player to have 2 extra-inning walk-off
home runs in one season since Jim Thome's 3 in 2001. Michael led off the bottom
of the 12th inning with the game tied at 3, and on the 7th pitch of a 3-2 count
from Phil Klein, he hit a fastball into the visitors' bullpen to win the game.
it marked the Indians' 7th walk-off win of the year, 5th walk-off win in extra
innings, and 75th walk-off home run in Progressive Field history. in spite of all that, the best thing (in my opinion) about Michael's 16th home run this year was that he finally
passed his father's career high 15 home runs. i wrote a blog with more details
about all this here.
but it wasn't all smiles and excitement this month. it
rarely is. this is the time of year when it's common for ballplayers to be
banged up, but you especially hate it when it happens to your favorite player.
during the August 6 game against the Cincinnati Reds, Michael made a running
catch in the bottom of the 3rd inning for the 2nd out. after the putout, he banged
his right knee into the wall in right center field. he grimaced but stayed in
the game and had 2 more at bats, one of which he GIDP'd. it was easy to see
that he was not running normally down the line and if he was healthy, he might
have beat it out. he was removed from the game in the bottom of the 7th inning
as part of a double switch/pitching change. Francona insisted that Michael was
fine, claiming he could use a rest because he'd been on his legs a lot
lately. my response to that was, 'hasn't everybody, though?' so i was worried.
Michael played center field again in the August 7 game, and
hit a double in the top of the 1st inning. but after the game, in the D-Man
report, Plain Dealer writer Dennis Manoloff wrote, "Michael Brantley, hitting with
99-percent hands because something is not right with one of his legs, doubled
to right." Michael maintained his legs were fine though, downplaying his contact
with the wall in Cincy.
the next day on August 8, Francona put Michael in the lineup as the DH, saying, "he's been on his legs a lot. i just wanted him to get off his legs a little bit." when Michael was asked about it, he remained stoic, replying, "i'm fine. what are you talking about?" but he continued to DH for the entire series against the Yankees and went 5-for-10, with 4 RBI.
the next day on August 8, Francona put Michael in the lineup as the DH, saying, "he's been on his legs a lot. i just wanted him to get off his legs a little bit." when Michael was asked about it, he remained stoic, replying, "i'm fine. what are you talking about?" but he continued to DH for the entire series against the Yankees and went 5-for-10, with 4 RBI.
it was reported on August 10, during the final game of the
Yankees series, that Michael was dealing with leg soreness but really wanted to
keep playing and was okay enough to stay in the lineup. finally, the truth came out. the hope was that 3
days in a row of DHing plus the August 11 off day would be a big help in
combating the issue.
the
game against Arizona on August 12
ended up being rained out after the guys played just a few innings. they rescheduled it
to be played as part of a doubleheader the following day. because of that,
Michael played center in the first game and DH'd in the second game. going into
the game on August 12, it was again said that his legs were fine and he was okay. (and
i was hopeful that that was true, until the slump began on August 15, that is.)
but because the team had to play a traditional DH--2 games in a row in 1
day--Francona decided it was best to not have Michael in the field for both
games.
now let's go back because despite Michael's knee/leg issue,
he set a couple career highs for himself over 3 days. it began on August
7, when Michael set a new career high of 48 extra base hits after hitting a 2-out
double in the top of 1st inning in the game against Homer Bailey and the
Cincinnati Reds. his previous career high was 47, and he accomplished that back
in 2012. i wrote a short blog about this here.
on August 8, Michael set a new career high with 223 total
bases when he hit a leadoff double in the top of the 6th inning against former Cleveland Indians pitcher, David Huff, now of the New York
Yankees. his previous career high was 222, set back in 2012. i wrote a short
blog about this here. oh and he also tied his career high RBI total by drawing
a bases loaded walk in the top of the 7th inning.
for the 3rd day in a row, Michael set a new career high,
this time in the RBI category. on August 9, he hit a solo home run off the top
of the right-field foul pole, in the top of the 8th inning against New York
Yankee Chase Whitley, driving himself in for his record-breaking 74th RBI. and,
i think you know by now, i wrote a blog about it with pictures and a video
here.
going into the first game on August 13, Michael's 25 go-ahead RBI
ranked 3rd in the American League. he was behind only Jose Abreu, who had 26
go-ahead RBI, and Miguel Cabrera, who had 28. i came across this stat from one
of my trusty Tribe scribes. i personally don't know where to find this
particular ranking online, so i could not get an updated rank once the month
ended. but i thought it would still be nice to include here.
after the doubleheader on August 13, it was pointed out on
twitter that Michael saw a total of 48 pitches. out of those 48 pitches, he only swung and missed at one pitch. one of 48. that means that of
the other 47 pitches, Michael either swung and made contact for a hit, swung
and made contact that resulted in a foul, or the pitches were thrown outside
for balls. i'm just documenting this here because it was made known to me lol
on August 15, it was reported that no player has had a
bigger offensive improvement than Michael this season other than Devin Mesoraco
of the Cincinnati Reds. Michael's not only increased his power, but he's
reduced his strikeouts as well, which only helps him more considering he
already hits for a good average. his increase in power is somewhat due to the
fact that Michael's become more of a pull hitter against fastballs. and as i
mentioned a few blogs ago, he's also been swinging at more strikes this year
than he has in the past.
on August 16, Michael had acquired at least one RBI in 52
out of the 118 games he had played in. at that time, it was the 3rd most games
with an RBI in the American League. again, i regretfully can't update this stat because i don't have access to that specific ranking.
after
the game on August 16, Michael was the only player in the major leagues batting
at least .300 with 18+ home runs, 80+ RBI, and 10+ stolen bases. think about that
for a second. no other player in the big leagues had those stats. i'm so proud
of Michael!
Michael
had 2 strikeouts in the August 21 game against Minnesota for just the second time this season,
the first being all the way back on April 25. you and i both know that Michael
doesn't strike out much, so it's extremely rare that he do it twice in one
game. a red flag should go up any time you see that in the stat line. one
strikeout was definitely his fault, as he swung and missed for strike 3. but
the other one was a result of a shitty called strike 3. typical.
so
remember in June when i talked about how Michael was bogusly called out on
strikes, and then gave the home plate umpire what for in a rare display of emotion? well he did it again in this game. the count was full in the top of the
8th inning with a runner on 1st and 2 outs. according to the strike zone on my
GameDay, the 4th and 5th pitches were outside, and that made the count full. so
when i saw that the 6th pitch, also outside, was called strike 3, i was pissed.
and so was Michael, who threw his bat on the ground and stared at the home
plate ump. this could have been a turning point in the game for the Indians,
who ended up losing, 4-1. and just so nobody thinks i'm being stupid here, the
ump also "claims" that Corey Kluber walked 4 people in this game. how often does Klubot
walk anybody let alone FOUR people? clearly the strike zone that day was a fucking mess.
after
the game, i read that STO showed an angry Michael sitting alone in the dugout. i obviously
didn't see it but it reminded me of Michael sitting in the dugout at Target
Field after the game on September 20, 2010, when his 22-game hitting streak came to an end. Target Field has
not been a kind park to Michael. he once hit a "home run" into the flowerbeds
in right field, which was overturned to just a double. i know he considers it a
special park because that's where he made his All Star debut, but i personally
hate that place because of how it's fucked him in the past.
okay, let me lighten the mood and tell you a happier story now. i saw Michael's
father, Mickey, at the August 23 game when i was there and pointed him out to my parents. after the game, my mother
went to the Horseshoe Casino while i went to the players parking lot with my dad. mom
called us once she got to the casino to tell us that she walked to the casino
with Mickey and actually started a conversation with him. Mickey told my mother
that he's very proud of Michael, among other things.
maybe an hour went by before my mom called us again, this time saying she saw Michael playing poker with his father, and he was drinking. so we then rushed over to the casino so i could check this out for myself. i (rightfully) assumed Michael was getting the August 24 game off (which i was happy about because i knew he could use a day off), or else he probably wouldn't be drinking. i took a few pictures of him at the table (LOL! sorry), which you're not allowed to do (#badass) before we left to go home. that might not have been a highlight for Michael, cause idk if he won any money or lost money or what, but it was a definite highlight for me. it was cool to see him in that setting, outside of Progressive Field and not being a ballplayer for once. and now i know he likes poker lol =D
maybe an hour went by before my mom called us again, this time saying she saw Michael playing poker with his father, and he was drinking. so we then rushed over to the casino so i could check this out for myself. i (rightfully) assumed Michael was getting the August 24 game off (which i was happy about because i knew he could use a day off), or else he probably wouldn't be drinking. i took a few pictures of him at the table (LOL! sorry), which you're not allowed to do (#badass) before we left to go home. that might not have been a highlight for Michael, cause idk if he won any money or lost money or what, but it was a definite highlight for me. it was cool to see him in that setting, outside of Progressive Field and not being a ballplayer for once. and now i know he likes poker lol =D
on August 30, Michael acquired his 5th stolen base and 10th
run of the month, and on August 31, he got his 13th extra base hit and 19th RBI of
the month. that allowed him to finish August with 13 extra base hits, 19 RBI,
10 runs, and 5 stolen bases, becoming just the fifth Indians player
in the last 10 years to have at least those stats in one month. the last player
to do so was Jason Kipnis in both May and June of the 2013 season. before Kip,
there was Asdrubal Cabrera in May 2011, Shin-Soo Choo in September/October
2010, and Grady Sizemore in May 2006. (thanks to Jordan Bastian for this info.)
moving on to defense, as i mentioned earlier, Michael split time between both center and left field this month. for the fourth straight month, he did not commit any errors, giving him a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in August. he didn't have a whole lot of balls hit to him though, so he only had a total of 36 putouts. there were several games where Michael only recorded one putout, and sometimes none. and because he was the DH for 4 games, he lost out on putout opportunities then, too.
Michael added 1 more assist to his total this month. his 11 total outfield assists are tied for 4th most in the American League and in the major leagues. Nick Markakis of the Baltimore Orioles also has 11 assists. Melky Cabrera of the Toronto Blue Jays is 3rd in the AL with 12 assists, while Jackie Bradley, Jr. of the Boston Red Sox is 2nd with 13. the leader right now is another Boston Red Sox outfielder, the incomparable Yoenis Cespedes with his 14 outfield assists.
Michael tied his career high in assists with
his 11th outfield assist on August 7. the Indians were playing against the Reds in Cincy, it was the bottom of the 2nd inning, and Michael was manning center field. after Nick Swisher
misplayed a triple that was hit to him in left, yes, Swisher was playing left, Michael
ran over, picked up the ball, and threw it to shortstop Jose Ramirez. Homer
Bailey had already scored on the Billy Hamilton triple, and when Michael threw
the ball in, Hamilton was caught up
in a rundown trying to go home. Ramirez threw the ball to Chiz at 3rd, who threw
the ball to Gomes coming up the 3rd baseline, who then tagged out Hamilton. the inning was over and
Michael was credited with the assist.
it appears that less guys are running on Michael now, as his
arm continues to get more respect around the league, so i'm not sure if he'll
get any more assists this year. though i can't deny i would like to see him get
at least one more to set a new career high for himself. i mean, why not? he's
set career highs in just about every other category this season lol in any case,
that doesn't take away from the fact that he's the best left fielder the
Indians have had in quite a while and i will be pretty pissed off if he's not
considered for a Gold Glove this year.
let me end this with some expectations, hopes, and wishes
for Michael in his final month of the 2014 season. i want to see Michael start
tearing the cover off the ball against all the southpaws he faces, and i want that
batting average against lefties to get up into the .280s. anything less than
that will be disappointing in what otherwise is going to be the best all
around season he's ever had in the big leagues.
Michael has already set a number of new career highs, and he's also close to setting a few more. as i said above, i wish for him to set a new career high in outfield assists. but additionally, i want career highs in hits, doubles, walks, and stolen bases. that might seem like a tall order but he really is on the cusp of new records in all those categories. and again, i think it would be amazing if Michael put up a 20-20 season. he's almost there, and i believe he can do it.
lastly, i wish for Michael to get his slugging percentage back up to .500. i'm not gonna harp on his batting average, but i want that SLG at .500. so good luck, Michael! close this year out with a bang!
now let's break down the numbers. i am going to document his August #s, the 3rd spot #s, and the DH #s, as well as the center field #s, left field #s, and overall outfield #s.
Michael has already set a number of new career highs, and he's also close to setting a few more. as i said above, i wish for him to set a new career high in outfield assists. but additionally, i want career highs in hits, doubles, walks, and stolen bases. that might seem like a tall order but he really is on the cusp of new records in all those categories. and again, i think it would be amazing if Michael put up a 20-20 season. he's almost there, and i believe he can do it.
lastly, i wish for Michael to get his slugging percentage back up to .500. i'm not gonna harp on his batting average, but i want that SLG at .500. so good luck, Michael! close this year out with a bang!
now let's break down the numbers. i am going to document his August #s, the 3rd spot #s, and the DH #s, as well as the center field #s, left field #s, and overall outfield #s.
August batting average: .286
OBP: .327
SLG: .467
OPS: .794
Michael played in 26 (of 27) games, 24 complete, in August. he started and played center in 9 games,
completing 7 of those games. he was subbed
out of 1 game after 5 innings because the Indians had a solid lead. he left 1 game early after banging his
right knee into the right-center field wall and played 6.1 innings. he started and was the DH for 4 games. he started
and played left in 13 complete games. the 1 game he did not play in was
just Tito giving him a much needed day off.
Michael bat 3rd in 26 games.
Michael played left field in 13 games. (13 complete)
Michael played center field in 9 games. (7 complete, 2 started: 11.1 innings)
Michael played left field in 13 games. (13 complete)
Michael played center field in 9 games. (7 complete, 2 started: 11.1 innings)
Michael was the DH in 4 games.
Michael played in 24 complete games.
Michael played in 24 complete games.
in August, Michael had a total of 113 plate appearances and 105 at bats. here is how he fared:
30 hits
30 hits
17 singles
10 doubles
3 home runs
19 RBI
10 doubles
3 home runs
19 RBI
1 sac fly
10 runs scored
6 walks
10 runs scored
6 walks
1 intentional walk
1 hit by pitch
1 hit by pitch
5 stolen bases
2 GIDP
10 strikeouts (6 swinging, 4 looking)
7 first at bat hits
49 total bases
38 left on base
36 putouts
1 assist
2 GIDP
10 strikeouts (6 swinging, 4 looking)
7 first at bat hits
49 total bases
38 left on base
36 putouts
1 assist
197.1 innings, 26 games
(24 complete games)
August batting average: .286 (30-105) (26 games)
now let's break down his numbers based on where he hit in the lineup.
(24 complete games)
August batting average: .286 (30-105) (26 games)
now let's break down his numbers based on where he hit in the lineup.
when Michael bat 3rd in August, he had a total of 113 plate appearances and 105 at bats in 26
games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:
30 hits
17 singles
10 doubles
30 hits
17 singles
10 doubles
3 home runs
19 RBI
19 RBI
1 sac fly
10 runs scored
6 walks
1 intentional walk
1 hit by pitch
10 runs scored
6 walks
1 intentional walk
1 hit by pitch
5 stolen bases
2 GIDP
10 strikeouts (6 swinging, 4 looking)
7 first at bat hits
49 total bases
38 left on base
36 putouts
1 assist
10 strikeouts (6 swinging, 4 looking)
7 first at bat hits
49 total bases
38 left on base
36 putouts
1 assist
197.1 innings, 26 games
(24 complete games)
August batting average in the 3rd spot: .286 (30-105) (26 games)
(24 complete games)
August batting average in the 3rd spot: .286 (30-105) (26 games)
overall batting average
so far in the 3rd spot: .316 (128-405) (100 games) (853.1 innings)
when Michael bat 3rd and played center in August, he
had a total of 37 plate appearances and 37 at bats in 9 games.
breaking down the numbers are as follows:
12 hits
8 singles
12 hits
8 singles
3 doubles
1 home run
8 RBI
3 runs scored
1 stolen base
1 stolen base
1 GIDP
3 strikeouts (looking)
3 strikeouts (looking)
4 first at bat hits
18 total bases
11 left on base
18 total bases
11 left on base
18 putouts
1 assist
78.1 innings, 9 games
(7 complete games)
August batting average in the 3rd spot while playing center: .324 (12-37) (9 games)
overall batting average so far in the 3rd spot while playing center: .289 (39-135) (36 games) (300.2 innings)
when Michael bat 3rd and played left in August, he had a total of 57 plate appearances and 53 at bats in 13 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:
11 hits
5 singles
78.1 innings, 9 games
(7 complete games)
August batting average in the 3rd spot while playing center: .324 (12-37) (9 games)
overall batting average so far in the 3rd spot while playing center: .289 (39-135) (36 games) (300.2 innings)
when Michael bat 3rd and played left in August, he had a total of 57 plate appearances and 53 at bats in 13 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:
11 hits
5 singles
5 doubles
1 home run
7 RBI
1 home run
7 RBI
4 runs scored
3 walks
3 walks
1 intentional walk
1 hit by pitch
4 stolen bases
1 GIDP
6 strikeouts (5 swinging, 1 looking)
1 first at bat hit
19 total bases
23 left on base
18 putouts
119 innings, 13 games
(13 complete games)
August batting average in the 3rd spot while playing left: .208 (11-53) (13 games)
19 total bases
23 left on base
18 putouts
119 innings, 13 games
(13 complete games)
August batting average in the 3rd spot while playing left: .208 (11-53) (13 games)
overall batting
average so far in the 3rd spot while playing left: .323 (81-251) (63 games)
(552.2 innings)
when Michael bat 3rd, he was the DH in August
for 4 games. he had a total of 19
plate appearances and 15 at
bats. breaking down the numbers are as follows:
7 hits
4 singles
7 hits
4 singles
2 doubles
1 home run
4 RBI
1 sac fly
3 runs scored
3 walks
1 strikeout (swinging)
1 strikeout (swinging)
2 first at bat hits
12 total bases
4 left on base
August batting average in the 3rd spot as the DH: .467 (7-15) (4 games)
overall batting average so far in the 3rd spot as the DH: .421 (8-19) (5 games)
overall batting average so far as the DH: .421 (8-19) (5 games)
12 total bases
4 left on base
August batting average in the 3rd spot as the DH: .467 (7-15) (4 games)
overall batting average so far in the 3rd spot as the DH: .421 (8-19) (5 games)
overall batting average so far as the DH: .421 (8-19) (5 games)
now let's break down his outfield numbers.
when Michael played the outfield in August, he had a total of 94 plate appearances and 90 at bats in 22 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:
23 hits
13 singles
8 doubles
2 home runs
15 RBI
15 RBI
7 runs scored
3 walks
1 intentional walk
3 walks
1 intentional walk
1 hit by pitch
5 stolen bases
5 stolen bases
2 GIDP
9 strikeouts (5 swinging, 4 looking)
5 first at bat hits
37 total bases
34 left on base
36 putouts
1 assist
9 strikeouts (5 swinging, 4 looking)
5 first at bat hits
37 total bases
34 left on base
36 putouts
1 assist
197.1 innings, 22 games
(20 complete games)
August batting average while playing the outfield: .256 (23-90) (22 games)
overall batting average so far while playing the outfield: .303 (148-489) (124 games) (1097.1 innings)
now let's break down his numbers specific to where he played in the outfield.
(20 complete games)
August batting average while playing the outfield: .256 (23-90) (22 games)
overall batting average so far while playing the outfield: .303 (148-489) (124 games) (1097.1 innings)
now let's break down his numbers specific to where he played in the outfield.
when Michael played center in August, he had a total
of 37 plate appearances and 37
at bats in 9 games. breaking down the numbers
are as follows:
12 hits
8 singles
12 hits
8 singles
3 doubles
1 home run
8 RBI
3 runs scored
1 stolen base
1 stolen base
1 GIDP
3 strikeouts (looking)
4 first at bat hits
18 total bases
18 total bases
11 left on base
18 putouts
1 assist
78.1 innings, 9 games
(7 complete games)
August batting average while playing center: .324 (12-37) (9 games)
overall batting average so far while playing center: .282 (46-163) (46 games) (373 innings)
when Michael played left in August, he had a total of 57 plate appearances and 53 at bats in 13 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:
11 hits
5 singles
5 doubles
1 home run
7 RBI
78.1 innings, 9 games
(7 complete games)
August batting average while playing center: .324 (12-37) (9 games)
overall batting average so far while playing center: .282 (46-163) (46 games) (373 innings)
when Michael played left in August, he had a total of 57 plate appearances and 53 at bats in 13 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:
11 hits
5 singles
5 doubles
1 home run
7 RBI
4 runs scored
3 walks
1 intentional walk
1 hit by pitch
4 stolen bases
1 GIDP
6 strikeouts (5 swinging, 1 looking)
1 first at bat hit
19 total bases
23 left on base
18 putouts
119 innings, 13 games
(13 complete games)
August batting average while playing left: .208 (11-53) (13 games)
overall batting average so far while playing left: .313 (102-326) (84 games) (724.1 innings)
1 first at bat hit
19 total bases
23 left on base
18 putouts
119 innings, 13 games
(13 complete games)
August batting average while playing left: .208 (11-53) (13 games)
overall batting average so far while playing left: .313 (102-326) (84 games) (724.1 innings)
August #s while playing center: 18 putouts, 1 assist, 0 errors, 1.000
fielding percentage (78.1 innings, 9 games)
overall #s so far while playing center: 106 putouts, 2 assists, 1 error, 0.991 fielding percentage (373 innings, 46 games)
overall #s so far while playing center: 106 putouts, 2 assists, 1 error, 0.991 fielding percentage (373 innings, 46 games)
August #s while playing left: 18 putouts, 0 errors, 1.000
fielding percentage (119 innings, 13 games)
overall #s so far while playing left: 120 putouts, 9 assists, 1 double play, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (724.1 innings, 84 games)
August #s while playing the outfield: 36 putouts, 1 assist, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (197.1 innings, 22 games)
overall #s so far while playing the outfield: 226 putouts, 11 assists, 1 double play, 1 error, 0.996 fielding percentage (1097.1 innings, 124 games)
overall #s so far while playing left: 120 putouts, 9 assists, 1 double play, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (724.1 innings, 84 games)
August #s while playing the outfield: 36 putouts, 1 assist, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (197.1 innings, 22 games)
overall #s so far while playing the outfield: 226 putouts, 11 assists, 1 double play, 1 error, 0.996 fielding percentage (1097.1 innings, 124 games)
now my game-by-game numbers and notes.
Game 105/Game 1, August 1: 3-4, RBI double (first at bat), single, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .320
(3rd/CF/GS5)
Game 105/Game 1, August 1: 3-4, RBI double (first at bat), single, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .320
(3rd/CF/GS5)
Game 106/Game 2, August 2: 2-4, single (first at
bat), single. AVG: .322
(3rd/CF/CG9)
(3rd/CF/CG9)
Game 107/Game 3, August 3: 2-6, double, home run, run
scored. AVG: .322
(3rd/CF/CG12)
(3rd/CF/CG12)
Game 108/Game 4, August 4: 2-4, RBI groundout (first
at bat), single, run scored, RBI single, stolen base. AVG: .324
(3rd/CF/CG9)
(3rd/CF/CG9)
Game 109/Game 5, August 5: 1-4, RBI single (first at
bat). AVG: .323
(3rd/CF/CG9)
(3rd/CF/CG9)
**Michael's 11-game
reached base streak ends**
Game 110/Game 6, August 6: 0-3. AVG: .321
(3rd/CF/GS6.1)
(3rd/CF/GS6.1)
^^Michael was removed
from the game as part of a double switch during the top of the 7th inning. he
banged his right knee into the wall in right-center field after making a
running catch in the bottom of the 3rd inning^^
Game 111/Game 7, August 7: 1-4, double (first at bat).
AVG: .320
(3rd/CF/CG8)
(3rd/CF/CG8)
Game 112/Game 8, August 8: 1-3, walk, double, run
scored, RBI walk, run scored. AVG: .320
(3rd/DH/CG)
(3rd/DH/CG)
Game 113/Game 9, August 9: 3-4, single (first at
bat), single, home run, run scored. AVG: .324
(3rd/DH/CG)
(3rd/DH/CG)
Game 114/Game 10, August 10: 1-3, RBI single (first
at bat), RBI sac fly, reached on fielder's choice, walk. AVG: .324
(3rd/DH/CG)
August 12: rain delay/game postponed, to be made up August 13 at 4 pm in a traditional DH.
(3rd/CF)
Game 115/Game 11, August 13 (Game 1): 1-4, 2-run single, reached on fielding error. AVG: .324
(3rd/CF/CG9)
(3rd/CF)
Game 115/Game 11, August 13 (Game 1): 1-4, 2-run single, reached on fielding error. AVG: .324
(3rd/CF/CG9)
Game 116/Game 12, August 13 (Game 2): 2-5, single, double.
AVG: .325
(3rd/DH/CG)
(3rd/DH/CG)
Game 117/Game 13, August 15: 0-4. AVG: .322
(3rd/CF/CG11)
(3rd/CF/CG11)
Game 118/Game 14, August 16: 1-4, 2-run home run, run
scored. AVG: .321
(3rd/LF/CG9)
(3rd/LF/CG9)
Game 119/Game 15, August 17: 0-3, walk (first at
bat), stolen base. AVG: .319
(3rd/LF/CG9)
(3rd/LF/CG9)
Game 120/Game 16, August 19: 1-3, walk (first at
bat), single, stolen base. AVG: .319
(3rd/LF/CG9)
(3rd/LF/CG9)
Game 121/Game 17, August 20: 0-4. AVG: .316
(3rd/LF/CG9)
(3rd/LF/CG9)
Game 122/Game 18, August 21: 0-4, reached on fielding
error. AVG: .314
(3rd/LF/CG8)
(3rd/LF/CG8)
Game 123/Game 19, August 22: 0-4. AVG: .311
(3rd/LF/CG9)
(3rd/LF/CG9)
Game 124/Game 20, August 23: 1-4, RBI single. AVG:
.311
(3rd/LF/CG9)
(3rd/LF/CG9)
August 24: not in lineup.
Game 125/Game 21, August 26: 1-4, hit by pitch (first
at bat), run scored, RBI double. AVG: .310
(3rd/LF/CG10)
(3rd/LF/CG10)
Game 126/Game 22, August 27: 0-4. AVG: .308
(3rd/LF/CG8)
(3rd/LF/CG8)
Game 127/Game 23, August 28: 1-4, RBI single, stolen
base, intentional walk. AVG: .307
(3rd/LF/CG9)
(3rd/LF/CG9)
Game 128/Game 24, August 29: 3-5, single, run scored,
double, double. AVG: .310
(3rd/LF/CG9)
(3rd/LF/CG9)
Game 129/Game 25, August 30: 2-5, double (first at
bat), RBI single, stolen base, run scored. AVG: .311
(3rd/LF/CG11)
(3rd/LF/CG11)
Game 130/Game 26, August 31: 1-5, RBI double. AVG:
.310
(3rd/LF/CG10)
^^game suspended due to rain, resumed at 6 pm on September 22 in the bottom of the 10th inning.
^^game suspended due to rain, resumed at 6 pm on September 22 in the bottom of the 10th inning.
so far in 2014, Michael has a total of 565 plate appearances and 510 at bats in 130 games (1097.1 innings). in total, he has 158 hits, 101 singles, 37 doubles, 2 triples, 18 home runs, 85 RBI, 5 sac flies, 81 runs scored, 43 walks, 2 intentional walks, 7 hit by pitches, 17 stolen bases, 1 caught stealing, 14 GIDP, 48 strikeouts (34 swinging, 14 looking), 39 first at bat hits, 253 total bases, 184 left on base, 226 putouts, 11 assists, 1 double play, and 1 error.
2014 season batting average: .310 (158-510)
OBP: .368
SLG: .496
OPS: .864
