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 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

Brantley's First Half 2016 #s (w/ DL Updates)

hello all! we have now officially reached the All Star break! even though teams have played more than 81 games--the true halfway mark in baseball--this is considered to be the "first half" of the season. so that means it's time for me to report Michael's first half numbers of 2016.

because Michael has not yet returned from the disabled list, he has not acquired any new statistics since the last blog i posted with his cumulative numbers. however, some sections here have still changed slightly. and you know me, i have to write this anyway to keep it on record for documentation purposes. that said, i understand if you don't want to read everything in this blog, but you should definitely check out the DL Updates section because there are some good ones!


so far 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.

1st Half 2016 batting average:

Brantley Transferred to 60-Day DL (w/ DL Updates) (My 200th Blog!)

this morning, on July 3, it was announced in a press release on indians.com that Michael Brantley was transferred from the 15-Day DL to the 60-Day DL in order to make room for Abraham Almonte--who was just reinstated from the restricted list--on the 40-man roster. this was only a paper move and does not change anything per a tweet from Jordan Bastian. Terry Francona also commented, "there's no hidden flags there." Michael's new placement on the disabled list is still retroactive to May 9, and he's eligible for activation on July 9 according to Bastian's indians.com article. however, Michael is still a ways away from returning.

this all originated from the offseason right shoulder surgery Michael had on November 9, 2015 for a torn labrum. he's been doing everything he can to recover, rehab, and make a comeback, but has faced some obstacles along the way. he played two games in spring training with the Tribe before experiencing some shoulder soreness and was shut down for the rest of Cactus League play. he was later placed on the 15-Day DL prior to the start of the season. soon after the season opened, Michael was able to go out on a minor league rehab assignment with both the Columbus Clippers and Akron RubberDucks and was activated from the DL on April 25.

Michael played in a total of 11 games with the Indians before he began

Brantley's May 2016 #s + DL Updates

hello, Brantley fans! i want to take a minute to thank all the people who read my Brantley's April 2016 #s blog. i'm also happy to welcome my new readers in the Philippines, Bahrain, and Antigua & Barbuda! i greatly appreciate you coming here and taking time out of your day to view my blog!

just a reminder: from here on out, you will be getting two blogs from me after every month ends. the first will contain Michael's numbers and other information from the month that just wrapped. the second is going to detail his cumulative stats in 2016 and will be linked at the end of my monthly post.

now without further ado, let's get into Michael's May, because, even though he didn't play many games, there's still a lot to cover.


May Overview

May did not turn out how anybody had hoped for Michael. while i think we were all aware that he wouldn't be able to play a "full" month, no one was prepared for the

Brantley Placed on 15-Day DL with Right Shoulder Inflammation

i'm afraid i have some disheartening news for Michael Brantley fans. this afternoon, on May 14, the Indians announced that Michael was placed on the 15-Day DL with right shoulder inflammation. the move is retroactive to May 10, meaning he can potentially be activated on May 25. this marks Michael's second time on the disabled list this season, as he opened the year on the 15-Day DL while still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, and it's his third DL stint overall in his MLB career.

screenshot cropped from indians.com

i am stunned about this considering just yesterday Terry Francona said that any talk of putting Michael on the DL was

Brantley's April 2016 #s

Michael Brantley spent most of the month of April on the DL, as he was still trying to make his way back from offseason right shoulder surgery. during his rehab, he played seven games with minor league teams in advance of finally being activated by the Indians on April 25. despite him not playing very much with the big league team this month, the blog must go on. this one will be shorter than usual though, something i think everyone will appreciate after the previous two LONG blogs i posted about his rehabilitation. (if you have not read those yet, they can be found here and here.)

before i get into Michael's April, let me provide a quick rundown of how i do these monthly blogs, just in case you're a new or recent reader of my blogspot. last year, i began sectioning out specific topics of discussion so they'd be easier to see and allow you the option to skim through certain parts or skip to the sections you were most interested in. i'm going to continue doing that, and the divisions generally include:

--a monthly overview
--areas of concern
--lineup changes
--health ailments affecting Michael's performance
--team batting title competition
--HR:RBI ratio, LOB, K Rate, and Outs
--streaks and situational statistics (ie. hit in/reached in, RHP/LHP, home/away, RISP, runners on, bases loaded, bases empty, multi-hit games, multi-RBI games, go-ahead hits/RBI)

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

Vote Brantley For MLB's 2016 All Star Game!

hey there baseball and Michael Brantley fans! it's the last week of April and you know what that means--it's time to start voting for your 2016 MLB All Star players!

photo courtesy of @AllStarGame on twitter

there's a very high probability that Michael will be activated off the DL tomorrow, on April 25. and if not tomorrow, then certainly later this week. just because Michael spent all of April thus far on the disabled list, that's no reason not to vote him to the Midsummer Classic. sadly, he was not selected to the American League All Star team last year, but he did make the 2014 team as a reserve. let's get him back to the ASG for his second appearance in three years, shall we?

in my humble opinion, Michael should not be penalized because

Brantley To Open Indians' 2016 Season On 15-Day DL

he tried to avoid it, but unfortunately it could not be avoided. today, on April 3, the Cleveland Indians announced that Michael Brantley was placed on the 15-day DL as he continues to recover from offseason right shoulder surgery. we've all known this was going to happen for some time, but the roster transaction did not become official until now. the good news about his DL stint is it's retroactive to March 25. that means, if Michael was ready, he could be activated as early as April 9 and would only miss the first week--just 4 games--of April, as opposed to missing the first two weeks or more of the season. while that once seemed like a real possibility, it now doesn't appear as though he will be back that fast.

note: i am presently in the middle of writing up Michael's daily health updates and the results of his spring/rehab games, but this is something that i felt needed to be posted about separately.

originally expected to miss April and part of May after his shoulder surgery on November 9, Michael attacked his rehab and did everything he could to be back on the field as soon as possible. he spent most of his offseason rehabbing in Cleveland, Ohio, then went out to Goodyear on February 1 to carry on with his rehab there. he started swinging a bat well before the initial projection date of March 9, beginning with hitting off a tee, then some soft toss, then progressing to indoor batting practice in the cage, and lastly graduating to

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

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

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

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

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

Brantley's February 2016 Shoulder Updates & Hitting Program News

before i get into this i want to address something. if Michael is not going to play the spring training games that are on the Indians schedule like he usually would due to his continued rehab, then i unfortunately am not going to be able to write a proper Brantley's Spring Training #s blog this year. what i'll probably have to do instead is keep track of all his rehab games, from March until he's activated with the Indians in April or May, and then write a blog recapping his overall rehab.

originally they said when Michael does ultimately begin to play in games again, it would be with the minor league camp in spring, AND he would play with them before he's even ready to bat. don't know how you can play in a game without being in the lineup, but i guess they will figure that out. and whenever he does start hitting in games again, if he remains with the minor leaguers, i don't know that i'll be able to find much detailed information online about each game that he appears in (ie. pitch count, inning, outs, results of all plate appearances). odds of me getting his situational numbers (RHP vs LHP, RISP, runners on, bases loaded, etc) are low as well. it also seems unlikely that i'll even be able to do an accurate calculation of his total numbers. so i'm asking my readers to please bear with me as i am gonna be forced to do things differently with the documentation of Michael's rehab/spring game #s.

as always, the best way to see any news and updates that i find on a daily basis would be to follow me on twitter, @clevelandgirl23.


in case you're not fully up-to-date with Michael's progression thus far,

Brantley News & Shoulder Rehab Progression Through January 2016

because Michael's been appearing at several public events in Cleveland over the last few days, i have a lot more up-to-date information on his recovery from right shoulder surgery. i've been keeping track of his progress all along, so if you've missed anything to this point, be sure to check out my Brantley News From the 2015 Winter Meetings (December 6-10) blog and the second half of my Brantley Confirmed For Tribe Fest 2016 blog, which contains health updates from December 17-21, for the final updates from 2015.

now let's get into the most current news, day by day, as it was unveiled.

January 25: Chris Antonetti, Indians President of Baseball Operations, did an interview with Christopher Russo on MLB Network's High Heat. Antonetti said that Michael was in the clubhouse earlier and that he's been in Cleveland rehabbing for most of the month of January. "he's on track and progressing really well. he's feeling good and pushing the trainers to push forward his timetable."

January 27: at night, Michael was spotted at

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