Showing posts with label Kansas City Royals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kansas City Royals. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Brantley Acquires 500th Career RBI!

Happy 4th of July, Brantley fans!🎆 i wanted to take a minute to commemorate another big achievement in Michael's career. tonight, in the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, Michael acquired his 500th run batted in!❺⓿⓿

it came in the top of the 1st inning with no outs, no score, and Francisco Lindor at 2nd base. well, Frankie was actually at 1st base after drawing a walk when Michael's at bat began. right-handed pitcher Trevor Oaks threw Michael a called strike, which Lindor ran on to steal 2nd. Michael fouled the next pitch down the right field line in the front row of seats before taking a ball. Michael fouled Oaks' fourth offering off to the left side. then, on the 5th pitch of a 1-2 count, Michael hit a go-ahead, line drive double to right field that easily scored Lindor, giving him RBI #500 in his 982nd Major League game and the Indians a 1-0 lead. congratulations!👏👊🙌😀

throughout Michael's 10 years in the majors, he's spent time batting in every spot in the order. coming into this game, here are his stats in each BOP:

Monday, June 19, 2017

Brantley Moved from Paternity List to 10-Day DL with Right Ankle Sprain

today, on June 19, the Cleveland Indians announced that Michael Brantley was removed from the Paternity List and placed on the 10-Day DL with a right ankle sprain, retroactive to June 16. he is eligible to return on June 26, as long as he receives clearance from the medical staff. this is Michael's first DL stint of the year.

screenshot cropped from a video on indians.com

Michael originally suffered a sprained right ankle in the game on

Monday, September 22, 2014

Brantley's Career High 152 Games Played

Michael set another career high tonight, this time simply by being in the lineup. when the September 22 game against the Kansas City Royals officially got underway at Progressive Field, and Carlos Carrasco threw the first pitch to Alcides Escobar in the top of the 1st inning, it marked Michael's new career high of 152 games played in one season. his old career high of 151 games played occurred just last year.

2013 was the first real full season that Michael played in the big leagues. he got his occasional days off, but had no major injuries to speak of. well, aside from that lacerated left forearm in spring training, which he clearly recovered completely from.

in 2012, he missed several games towards the end of the season due to injury issues, including a sore pectoral muscle and also a sore groin, which turned out to be a sports hernia that required offseason surgery. and in 2011, he played for a month and a half fighting a sore wrist and then had to be shut down because of a broken hamate bone. prior to that, Michael was still just a rookie, spending time between Cleveland and Columbus in 2010.

this season he was lucky though, only having minor issues. he had a very small and manageable problem when the Indians played on astroturf for 2 straight series in May and Michael developed some lower back tightness. but that only required him to sit out 1 game.

then he suffered a mild concussion in the middle of June. however, it wasn't necessary for him to go on the 7-day concussion list and he ended up missing just 2 full games. how? well, he left the initial game after 4 innings with concussion-like symptoms, then missed the next game. after that there was a rainout, followed by the second game he missed. then the Indians had an off day, followed by Michael making a pinch hit appearance on his 4th day of "rest" before being written back into the starting lineup the next day.

the other issue Michael had this year was this recent late season leg soreness. Francona's been using Michael as a DH on and off when he can in order to balance the team's need for Michael's bat in the lineup and give his legs as much extra rest as possible. that strategy hasn't negatively impacted Michael in any way, as he's put up very good numbers this year as a designated hitter.

so congrats to Michael on playing another (mostly healthy) full season in the big leagues and setting this new personal best. and if he plays in the final 5 games of the season, then his new career high will be re-set to 157 games played. his current 152 leads the team, and it's basically a given that he'll finish with the team high, too.

to play this many games and acquire all the numbers that Michael has is not an easy thing to do. his work ethic and dedication to his craft really show and i am so, so, SO happy for everything that he's accomplished. it's been a hell of a year, one for the record books. and no matter what happens in the future, this is a season that can always be looked back on fondly and never taken away from him.