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

Brantley's Overall 2016 Minor League Rehab #s

as promised, here is the blog featuring Michael Brantley's overall 2016 minor league rehab numbers. if only i was posting this because he was back in the big leagues again. sigh. unfortunately, Michael just had season-ending surgery on August 15. therefore, there is no more wondering about when he will resume his rehab, cause it's done.

this blog combines Michael's rehab numbers from April with his rehab numbers from July. (oddly enough, Michael played as many rehab games this year as he did regular season games with the Cleveland Indians.) he spent time rehabbing with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, Lake County Captains, Akron RubberDucks, and Columbus Clippers. i have done a cumulative breakdown of Michael's overall numbers as well as broken down his total numbers from each minor league team he played with.

THERE ARE FIVE SECTIONS OF STATISTICAL BREAKDOWNS IN THIS BLOG. FEEL FREE TO SKIM THROUGH CERTAIN PARTS AND/OR JUST FOCUS ON WHAT YOU MOST WANT TO READ ABOUT.


i'm beginning with how Michael did in his OVERALL 2016 minor league rehab assignment, which incorporates stats from his appearances with the Scrappers, Captains, RubberDucks, and Clippers all together.

Brantley's July 2016 Minor League Rehab #s (2nd DL Stint)

this is the second part of Michael Brantley's rehab information accumulated during his second DL stint in 2016. it contains Michael's numbers and statistics from his second minor league rehab assignment of the year, spanning between July 11 and 17. if you're looking for a very thorough account of his daily hitting progressions and the details about all his rehab game plate appearances, then please read this in conjunction with my previous blog: Brantley's May - August 2016 DL Stint Updates & Rehab Game Details.

note: if you are wondering why i didn't post Michael's July rehab numbers at the end of July, here's why. initially, i anticipated Michael would be continuing with his rehab assignment sometime in August. and, since it would have occurred while he was on the same DL stint (stemming from May 14), i planned on combining his rehab numbers from both July and August, as i saw no reason to split the July and August numbers. but because Michael recently had surgery and is not going to resume his rehab this season, i can now post his rehab stats from his second DL stint, consisting of games in the month of July only.


like earlier this season, i'm first going to break down Michael's overall July rehab numbers, and then separately break down his stats from

Brantley's 2016 Cactus League & Minor League Rehab #s and My Expectations

this is the second part of Michael Brantley's rehab information. it contains Michael's numbers and statistics from his rehab game appearances, spanning from March 17 - April 23, 2016, as well as what my expectations are for him for the 2016 regular season. if you're looking for a very thorough account of his daily progression during this time period and/or details about all his rehab game plate appearances, then please read this in conjunction with my previous blog: Brantley's 2016 Spring Training & In-Season Rehab Details.

because Michael's rehabilitation took longer than expected due to a setback and a brief shutdown period between March 23 and April 11, the overall blog that i had originally planned on doing became far too lengthy. therefore, i cut it into two separate posts--one detailing his daily update information and this one, focusing solely on his rehab numbers and statistics. you're welcome.


now that Michael's rehab is finally done, i will go over how it went and break down all the numbers for you the best i can. please bear with me, as this is not going to be one of my typical Brantley Spring Training #s blogs. once the month of April is over, i can get back to business and write a monthly blog like i normally would, excluding the handful of regular season games he missed, of course.

this blog is divided into different sections comprised of:

Brantley's 2016 Spring Training & In-Season Rehab Details

he's baaaaaaaack! yes, it's true. at long last, today, on April 25, Michael Brantley was cleared to come off the DL and has joined his teammates in Minneapolis as an active roster member! despite not being in tonight's starting lineup against the Minnesota Twins, i'm still very excited for him and i know he's gotta be over the moon ecstatic. he'll either make his 2016 regular season debut tomorrow, or perhaps tonight in one of the later innings as a pinch hitter or defensive replacement.

let me begin with a brief recap to explain how he got here. Michael had surgery on November 9, 2015 to repair a slight labral tear in his right shoulder. he suffered this shoulder impairment on September 22 in the game against the Minnesota Twins, and that eventually led to an early 2015 shut down. Michael attempted to resolve the issue without going under the knife, but he soon realized that that could not be avoided. he spent most of his offseason in Cleveland before flying out to Arizona on February 1 to carry on with his rehab there.

Michael tried his best to be ready in time for Indians Opening Day, because that was his goal all along, and he came really close to achieving that feat. he worked very hard in his rehab, so hard that he found himself weeks ahead of his initially projected post-surgery workout schedule. while he was not able to play in spring training games when the Indians first started on March 1, he was

Brantley News From the 2015 Winter Meetings (December 6-10)

for someone who's not even a free agent or on the trading block, Michael Brantley sure did cause quite a stir at this year's annual Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee. why? because there was a lot of conflicting information about his shoulder surgery and subsequent recovery timetable. so i put together all the news i came across each day this week, in chronological order, from all my sources. i also included my own daily thoughts and the reactions i had after reading everything.


Sunday, December 6:

'twas the night before Winter Meetings, when all through Tennessee, the rumor mill was churning, with the focus on Michael Brantley.

Peter Gammons got the ball of fear rolling Sunday night when he let the cat out of the bag in an interview on MLB Network. "i just learned today Michael Brantley's shoulder injury is

What Is Labral Tear Shoulder Surgery?

i'm no doctor and don't know all the specifics of the torn labrum that Michael Brantley had in his right shoulder. but i was curious and concerned and wanted to know what his shoulder surgery entailed. so i did some research online for the details and found an actual labral tear repair surgery on youtube. these videos explain the injury and surgery better than i could in words. again, i'm not sure what part of Michael's labrum was torn, so even if these videos aren't an exact duplicate of what Michael had done, they still give a general idea of the procedure that Dr. Morgan performed on Michael on November 9.

the surgery documented in the following videos was uploaded on September 26, 2011. it was conducted by Dr. Bradford Tucker at Shore Medical Center in Somers Point, New Jersey. Dr. Tucker is an assistant team orthopedic surgeon with the Philadelphia Phillies, so i think he's a very good source for an injury of this sort. this is a minimally invasive procedure, and i hope Michael's was done this way also.

warning: if you are a bit squeamish and can't tolerate looking at real human anatomy, i don't recommend watching these videos because they are graphic and show a visible labral tear in a man's shoulder.

Part 1 of the surgery:

Brantley Has Right Shoulder Surgery, Will Miss Start of 2016 Season

heartbreaking news for the Indians regarding Michael Brantley was revealed on November 9, though clearly Michael knew this was going to happen well before it was announced to the public. the Tribe made it known that earlier today Michael had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder to repair a slight tear of the labrum--a circular ring of cartilage (or piece of rubbery tissue) attached to the rim of the shoulder socket that helps keep the shoulder in place. Dr. Craig Morgan performed the procedure in Wilmington, Delaware. Michael will be sidelined for 5-6 months and is undoubtedly going to miss the beginning of 2016.

photo cropped off Indians.com

while everyone was hopeful that