Brantley News & Ankle Updates from January 2018

hi, Brantley fans! let me cut right to the chase. January was another slow news month as far as information about Michael's rehab from right ankle surgery goes. he is now over three months into his recovery, but we haven't gotten any insight as to where he is in the process and what type of baseball activities he's been doing thus far, if any. has he started to run on a treadmill yet? no clue. did he swing the bat at all during the offseason? couldn't tell ya. besides that, there's been no timetable put on Michael and it's currently unknown whether or not he'll be ready to open up the 2018 season with the Tribe.🤔

the consolation though is that we're definitely going to hear some detailed updates shortly because Michael is due to report to camp in just two and a half weeks (or possibly sooner)! so hang in there a little longer, #TeamBrantley. the countdown to February 18 is on!😃

meanwhile, if you've missed anything since Michael's surgery or need a refresher, here are my three previous news/update blogs:
Brantley News from October 2017
Brantley News from November 2017 & Why He Shouldn't Move to 1st Base
Brantley News & Ankle Updates from December 2017


now let's get to the January news and updates!

Brantley Not Ranked in MLB Network's Top 10 Left Fielders Right Now

hello, baseball fans! MLB Network is currently in Week 3 of the Top 10 Right Now series where the best players at each position around the diamond are ranked. the 8th annual program has been airing on Saturdays this year, differing from Sundays a year ago and Thursdays in 2016. tonight, on January 27, the "Top 10 Right Now: Left Fielders" show premiered at 9 pm ET.

screenshot cropped from a video on m.mlb.com

host Brian Kenny was once again joined by analyst Eric Byrnes to reveal the Top 10 LFs presently in baseball going into the 2018 season, as determined by

Brantley Will Not Be Attending Tribe Fest 2018

hey there, Brantley fans! i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but today i have some unfortunate information to report. a couple days ago, i noticed that Michael's name was no longer on the list of confirmed players for Tribe Fest, presented by KeyBank, on January 20.😕

screenshot cropped from a video on indians.com

so i decided to reach out to the Indians on twitter and ask if Michael had to cancel. here's how they responded: unfortunately, Michael