Brantley's 2018 Game-by-Game Numbers & Notes

hi again, Brantley fans! it's time for my series of wrap up blogs where i break down Michael's 2018 season numbers in a couple different ways, so as not to overwhelm you all with a plethora of stats and information.🕮

i'm going to begin with a post concentrating on Michael's 2018 Game-by-Game Numbers and Notes.🖩📓


for the third straight year, Michael was behind everyone in spring as he was working to come back from an injury. this time his delay was a result of the right ankle surgery that he had in October 2017 for ankle synovitis and a deltoid ligament sprain. Michael spent most of spring training still rehabbing from his surgery while the rest of the Indians played in Cactus League games. in the middle of March, Michael finally got some game action, first with the minor leaguers before "graduating" to playing with his Tribe teammates. but since he only played in three Cactus League contests, it was decided that Michael would open the season on the 10-Day DL in order to continue building up his endurance to ensure that he'd be capable of playing full games right away upon his return.

Michael only missed the first

Brantley's Second Half 2018 #s

hello, Brantley fans! you're going to see a lot of blogs coming out this week from me containing all of Michael's final 2018 #s. but first, i have to tell you about his second half #s and statistics! the schedule after the All Star Break consisted of 67 games for the Cleveland Indians. Michael received extra rest days towards the end of the year in preparation for the playoffs, but he still played enough to be considered a qualifying player. so let's check out his performance!


post-All Star Break in 2018, Michael had a total of 259 plate appearances and 229 at bats in 59 games (481.0 innings). in total, he had 71 hits, 17 extra base hits, 54 singles, 11 doubles, 1 triple, 5 home runs, 20 RBI, 2 sac flies, 34 runs, 23 walks, 3 hit by pitches, 6 stolen bases (5 - 2nd, 1 - 3rd), 4 reached on fielder's choice, 1 reached on forceout, 2 reached on fielding error, 1 reached on catcher interference, 1 reached on passed ball, 1 sac bunt, 5 GIDP, 29 strikeouts (23 swinging, 6 looking), 13 first at bat hits, 99 total bases, 86 left on base, 97 putouts, 3 assists, and 1 double play.

2nd Half 2018 batting average:

Brantley's First Half 2018 #s

hello, Brantley faithful! the All Star Break is finally upon us. why do i say finally? because the break is later than normal this year due to extra off days having been added to the schedule. that makes it even more ironic to call what has passed thus far as the "first half," but that's just how it goes. this part of July has always been considered the halfway point in baseball regardless of teams having played more than 81 games--the true half mark in the sport. the Indians, in particular, have already played 95 games!

it won't be much of a break for those players who are going to the Midsummer Classic in Washington, D.C., however, and that includes our boy, Michael Brantley! in case you missed it, Michael was selected as an OF reserve for the American League team for the second straight ASG, third time overall in his career. so while he and the other All Stars prepare for the 89th annual affair, i shall provide you with Michael's first half numbers of 2018.


so far in 2018, Michael has 372 plate appearances and 341 at bats in 84 games (655.1 innings). in total, he has 105 hits, 38 extra base hits, 67 singles, 25 doubles, 1 triple, 12 home runs (2 grand slams), 56 RBI, 4 sac flies, 55 runs, 25 walks, 2 hit by pitches, 6 stolen bases (2nd), 3 caught stealing (2 - 2nd, 1 - 3rd), 3 reached on fielder's choice, 1 reached on forceout, 2 reached on fielding error, 1 reached on throwing error, 10

Brantley's 2017 Game-by-Game Numbers & Notes

hey, Brantley fans! the final numbers are in! well actually, they've been in, but i've had such a busy schedule lately that couldn't write much until now. my apologies!😳

if you're a long-time reader of All Things Brantley, All Things Tribe, then you know that i like to post a series of wrap up blogs when presenting Michael's yearly numbers. i prefer to do it this way in order to keep things more organized and cut down on the length, because my posts can get pretty long and wordy.🕮

as usual, i'm starting with a blog that mainly focuses on Michael's 2017 Game-by-Game numbers and notes.🖩📓


coming into 2017, the biggest question on everyone's mind was if Michael's right shoulder and biceps were going to be okay. the second biggest question was if Michael could get back to being the player he was in 2014 and 2015. happily, the answers to those inquiries were yes and yes! Michael was a little behind in spring training while he continued to finish his rehab work and progressions following his biceps tenodesis (surgery) from August 2016, but he did manage to

Brantley's 2017 #s Through August

okay, so maybe i was on to something when i wrote in the Brantley's 2017 #s Through July blog that this year might need to be a "Just Get Through It" type of season for Michael Brantley. (if you haven't seen it or would like to re-read my theory, it's at the bottom of the post.) except, he's hit a snag in that game plan due to his lingering right ankle sprain, of which the latest status can be found in the DL Updates section of my Brantley's August 2017 #s blog.

Michael will be lucky if he even plays 100 games this year. at no point this season did i ever think that would be the case--until now. in my preseason predictions blog, i assumed he'd accumulate at least 125 games, and that was including some extra off days to give his right shoulder a break. i could never have anticipated that he'd miss so much time because his ankle would give out on him. i know it's not his fault, but i can't hide my disappointment in the situation and i'm sure other fans feel the same. forget about Comeback Player of the Year. at the moment, we just need him to come back, period.😞

so when will Michael return? it's unclear because he has yet to resume running and, according to one of the last August updates from Terry Francona, his ankle still needs to heal. but hopefully Michael will be back sooner rather than later in September so that he can get himself going again and finish out the regular season strong and on a good note, or at least try to, before he and the Cleveland Indians embark on playoff baseball!🤞

since Michael barely played in August, his overall numbers have

Brantley's 2017 #s Through July

Michael Brantley has done an admirable and inspiring job so far in 2017 after missing all but 11 games last year. no one can say otherwise. in fact, he's got a very good chance to be a candidate for AL Comeback Player of the Year.👍 however, i am going to make an argument at the bottom of this post that Michael's not fully back to his ordinary self yet, and likely won't be until next season. so make sure you read all the way to the end for that.📖

but first, let's get into the numbers. this blog consists of Michael's 2017 regular season numbers and statistics from April 3 - July 31.


so far in 2017, Michael has 350 plate appearances and 314 at bats in 82 games (686.0 innings). in total, he has 94 hits, 29 extra base hits, 65 singles, 20 doubles, 1 triple, 8 home runs, 49 RBI, 4 sac flies, 42 runs, 30 walks, 3 intentional walks, 2 hit by pitches, 11 stolen bases (9 - 2nd, 2 - 3rd), 1 caught stealing (2nd), 7 GIDP, 49 strikeouts (40 swinging, 9 looking), 21 first at bat hits, 140 total bases, 128 left on base, 127 putouts, 8 assists, 1 error, and 1 double play.

2017 batting average through July:

Brantley's First Half 2017 #s

hey everyone! can you believe we're already at the All Star Break? it's definitely needed, if you ask me. except, it won't be much of a break for some ballplayers, including Michael Brantley, who was selected as an American League OF reserve for this year's Midsummer Classic! so as Michael heads down to Miami, Florida, for the 88th annual All Star Game, let me share his first half numbers of 2017 with you. and keep in mind, even though teams have played more than 81 games--the technical halfway point in baseball--all games preceding the All Star Break are considered to be part of the "first half" of the sport.


so far in 2017, Michael has 278 plate appearances and 250 at bats in 66 games (551.0 innings). in total, he has 76 hits, 23 extra base hits, 53 singles, 17 doubles, 1 triple, 5 home runs, 37 RBI, 2 sac flies, 31 runs, 25 walks, 2 intentional walks, 1 hit by pitch, 8 stolen bases (6 - 2nd, 2 - 3rd), 1 caught stealing (2nd), 6 GIDP, 40 strikeouts (33 swinging, 7 looking), 18 first at bat hits, 110 total bases, 94 left on base, 103 putouts, 5 assists, and 1 error.


1st Half 2017 batting average:

Brantley's 2017 #s Through June (+ All Star Ballot Results)

these first three months of Michael Brantley's 2017 baseball campaign haven't exactly gone off without a hitch. April was great for Dr. Smooth--his best month so far--which gave every Indians fan the impression that he was back to his old self. conversely, in May, he suffered a right ankle sprain and struggled in some offensive categories, making that month slightly pedestrian. then in June, Michael was unable to significantly add on to his overall stats because he not only spent time on the Paternity List after welcoming a new baby into his family, but was also on the disabled list while dealing with continued ankle soreness. combine that with a couple extra days off early in the season and Michael has missed more games than anticipated to this point.

still, it hasn't all been bad. i mean, his shoulder seems to be holding up quite well. (knock on wood.) and if his ankle issue is now in the past, i think we're going to see some vintage Brantley numbers coming in these last three months of the year. but before we get to that, let's recap what he's done through June.

this blog tallies Michael's 2017 regular season numbers and statistics from April 3 - June 30.


so far in 2017, Michael has 240 plate appearances and 216 at bats in 57 games (484.0 innings). in total, he has 66 hits, 20

Brantley's 2017 #s Through May (+ All Star Ballot Results)

as promised, this is the blog containing Michael's total numbers so far this year. not everyone is curious about a baseball player's statistics within a month, i get that, but most fans are typically interested in current overall numbers, and that is why i now will be writing two blogs at the end of every month. these types of posts feature Michael's 2017 regular season numbers up to the point in the year that we're at. this particular blog covers April 3 to May 31. the format is the same as in my monthlies, except certain sections have been eliminated because they're just not all necessary here.

the main difference between my two blogs is this: the cumulative season blogs focus solely on Michael's numbers, while the monthlies provide stats as well as detailed information that i feel is important to document in regards to each month.

in case you're new or need a refresher, let me quickly give a rundown of what you can expect to find in my 2017 #s Through... blogs this season:
--current overall #s recap
--batting average competition
--team leads and career highs
--HR:RBI ratio, LOB, K Rate, and Outs
--reached base vs. left stranded (new section this year!)
--streaks and situational statistics
--#s versus AL Central Division teams
--interleague play #s
--league rankings

Brantley's 2015 Game-by-Game Numbers & Notes

i'm splitting up some of Michael's overall season stats/numbers, as i've done in the past, so that my readers aren't overwhelmed with one giant blog full of a profuse amount of information. you're welcome lol

this first blog mainly focuses on all of Michael's game-by-game numbers and notes for 2015. he battled through a lot of challenges this season, enduring 3 main injuries: a lower back strain, left shoulder inflammation, and right shoulder inflammation. his right shoulder never fully healed and by late September, the Indians decided to shut him down before the year was over. he missed more games this year than in any of his previous full seasons, yet somehow remained a productive contributor in the lineup. Michael played better while not at full strength than some players did healthy, batting at or above .286 for all but 8 games.

truth be told, 2015 ranked as one of Michael's best seasons in the majors. a new career high, new career low, and walk-off hit marked just a few of the exciting highlights of his campaign. while his stats weren't quite as extraordinary as they were a year ago, he still boasted a few team highs. and, even after a less than stellar finish in September, Michael once again owned the highest batting average (.310) on the team, giving him this honor for the 4th year in a row now. outstanding.


Michael played in 137 of 161* games this season and had

Brantley's 2015 Second Half #s

before i get into Michael's overall 2015 numbers, i'm going to calculate his 2nd half numbers. the format for this blog will be the same as the one i used for his 1st half numbers with the split sections. once again, you can scroll through everything and just read what you find the most interesting, or you can skim each section and focus on the bold/italicized information.


post-All Star break in 2015, Michael had a total of 250 plate appearances and 224 at bats in 58 games (417.2 innings). in total, he had 75 hits, 31 extra base hits, 44 singles, 21 doubles, 10 home runs, 38 RBI, 1 sac fly, 33 runs, 23 walks, 3 intentional walks, 2 hit by pitches, 6 stolen bases (5 - 2nd, 1 - 3rd), 6 GIDP, 25 strikeouts (21 swinging, 4 looking), 14 first at bat hits, 126 total bases, 94 left on base, 86 putouts, 1 assist, and 1 error.

2nd Half 2015 batting average: .335 (75-224)

OBP: .400

SLG: .563

OPS: .963


2nd Half of July BA: .346

August BA: .406

September/October BA: .237


Michael's .335 batting average in the 2nd half was the

Brantley's 2015 First Half #s

the All Star break is upon us, and that means it's time to calculate Michael's 1st half numbers of 2015. usually i do a short version of this blog, but this year i decided i would provide all the details using the new format i recently implemented with the split sections. feel free to scroll through everything to find what most interests you, or skim through each section and focus mainly on the bold/italicized parts.


so far in 2015, Michael has a total of 346 plate appearances and 305 at bats in 79 games (617.0 innings). in total, he has 89 hits, 29 extra base hits, 60 singles, 24 doubles, 5 home runs, 46 RBI, 4 sac flies, 35 runs, 37 walks, 5 intentional walks, 9 stolen bases (2nd), 1 caught stealing (3rd), 8 GIDP, 26 strikeouts (16 swinging, 10 looking), 20 first at bat hits, 128 total bases, 129 left on base, 126 putouts, 7 assists, 1 error, and 1 double play.

1st Half 2015 batting average:

Brantley's 2014 Game-by-Game Numbers & Notes

this blog mainly focuses on all of Michael's game-by-game numbers and notes for 2014. he had an incredible year, setting career highs in almost every offensive category. he was arguably the MVP of the Indians, leading his teammates not only with a plethora of stats, but also with his words. his season was not all sunshine and roses, however, as he did go through 2 slumps--one at the end of April, and one that lasted for 11 games in August. other than that, he excelled and finished with the highest batting average (.327) on the team for the 3rd straight year.

Michael played in 156 of 162 games this season and had a hit in 123 of the 156 games that he played. Michael had many significant hitting streaks, including two 9-game, an 11-game, a 12-game, and two 15-game hitting streaks. he also had three 5-consecutive multi-hit games, along with a 9- and 10-game road hitting streak, and a franchise record 19-game home hitting streak.

Michael reached base safely in 139 games. he had several long reached base streaks during the year as well. his 28-game on-base streak from August 28 - September 24 is the second longest of his career.

Michael started 154 games and played in 146 complete games. he played 147 games total in the outfield, starting 146 games and completing 138 of those.

he played left field in 107 games, for a total of 931.1 innings. as the left fielder, he started 106 games and completed 95 of those. he started 5 games and played a total of 31 innings, he left 2 games early with injury and played 8 innings, he was subbed out of 3 games and played 22 innings, he was lifted for a pinch runner in 1 game after 8 innings, and was a defensive switch (into left field) for 1 inning in 1 game.

Michael played center field in 46 games, for a total of 373 innings. as the center fielder, he started 40 games and completed 37 of those. he started 1 game and played 8 innings, he was subbed out of 1 game after 5 innings, he left 1 game early with injury after 6.1 innings, he was a defensive substitute in 1 game for 1 inning, and was a defensive switch (into center field) in 5 games totaling 15 innings.

he was a PH in 2 games, playing 1 inning in center field as a defensive sub in 1 of them. he started and was the DH for 8 complete games. he missed 3 games due to injury, 1 because of mid-back tightness from playing on astroturf and 2 because of a mild concussion. Michael had 3 complete games off.

defensively, Michael put together a year worthy of Gold Glove consideration. despite his 1 error and .996 fielding percentage, he acquired 12 outfield assists, 2 double plays, and was part of his very first triple play. additionally, he played a franchise record 247 consecutive games in the outfield without an error, a streak that spanned from June 5, 2012 to April 2, 2014.


now here are my game-by-game numbers and notes for Michael Brantley's 2014 season:

Game 1, March 31: 2-4, double, double. AVG: .500
(batting 5th/LF/CG9)

April 1: game postponed, to be made up April 2.
(6th/CF)

Game 2, April 2 (Day Game): 1-3, single (first at bat). AVG: .429
(6th/CF/CG8) 

^^Michael sets new franchise record with 247 consecutive errorless games in the outfield^^
**Michael's 247 consecutive errorless games streak ends**

Game 3, April 2 (Night Game): 1-4, walk, RBI groundout, 2-run single. AVG: .364
(5th/LF - 5 innings, CF - 4 innings/CG9)

Game 4, April 4: 1-4, reached on fielder's choice, 2-run single. AVG: .333
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 5, April 5: 1-4, single, run scored. AVG: .316
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 6, April 6: 3-5, single (first at bat), run scored, RBI single, single. AVG: .375
(5th/LF/CG9)

April 7: game postponed, to be made up April 9 in a traditional DH.
(6th/CF)

**Michael's 6-game hitting streak ends**

Game 7, April 8: 0-4. AVG: .321
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 8, April 9 (Game 1): 1-3, single (first at bat). AVG: .323
(6th/CF - 8 i, LF - 1 i/CG9)

Game 9, April 9 (Game 2): 0-3, walk. AVG: .294
(6th/CF/CG9)

Game 10, April 10: 1-4, double. AVG: .289
(6th/CF/CG8)

Game 11, April 11: 1-4, walk, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .286
(6th/CF/CG8)

Game 12, April 12: 1-3, 2-run single (first at bat), walk, walk, run scored. AVG: .289
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 13, April 13: 1-3, walk (first at bat), home run, run scored, reached on fielder's choice, reached on fielding error, run scored. AVG: .292
(6th/CF/CG8.1)

April 15: game postponed due to cold, to be made up July 19 in a day-night DH.

Game 14, April 16: 0-3, hit by pitch, stolen base. AVG: .275
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 15, April 17: 2-5, 2-run single, 2-run home run, run scored. AVG: .286
(5th/LF/CG8)

Game 16, April 18: 1-5, single, stolen base. AVG: .279
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 17, April 19: 0-3, walk. AVG: .266
(6th/CF/CG9)

Game 18, April 20: 2-3, home run (first at bat), run scored, RBI double, walk, run scored. AVG: .284
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 19, April 21: 1-4, 2-run home run, run scored. AVG: .282
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 20, April 22: 2-4, single, stolen base, run scored, single. AVG: .293
(5th/LF/CG9)

Game 21, April 23: 1-3, single, stolen base, run scored, walk. AVG: .295
(6th/LF/CG9)

Game 22, April 24: 1-3, RBI single, run scored. AVG: .296
(5th/CF/CG9)

**Michael's 15-game on base streak ends**

Game 23, April 25: 0-4. AVG: .282
(5th/LF/CG8)

Game 24, April 26: 0-3, walk. AVG: .273
(5th/LF/CG8)

Game 25, April 27: 0-3. AVG: .264
(5th/LF/CG8.2)

Game 26, April 28: 0-4, reached on fielder's choice. AVG: .253
(6th/LF/CG8)

Game 27, April 29: 1-3, double, RBI sac fly. AVG: .255
(5th/LF/CG8)

April 30: not in lineup.

Game 28, May 2: 3-5, single (first at bat), run scored, home run, run scored, 2-run single. AVG: .272
(6th/LF/CG9)

Game 29, May 3: 1-4, single (first at bat). AVG: .271
(3rd/LF – 3 i, CF – 6 i/CG9)

Game 30, May 4: 1-5, single, run scored. AVG: .268
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 31, May 5: 1-4, double (first at bat). AVG: .267
(3rd/LF – 8 i, CF – 2 i/CG10)

Game 32, May 6: 1-3, RBI single (first at bat), run scored, walk. AVG: .269
(3rd/LF – 7 i, CF – 2 i/CG9)

Game 33, May 7: 2-4, 2-run double, single. AVG: .276
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 34, May 8: 3-5, double (first at bat), run scored, single, 2-run home run, run scored, RBI fielder's choice. AVG: .289
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 35, May 9: 1-5, reached on fielding error (first at bat), home run, run scored. AVG: .286
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 36, May 10: 1-3, walk, single. AVG: .287
(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 37, May 11: 1-4, walk (first at bat), single. AVG: .286
(3rd/DH/CG)

**Michael's 11-game hitting streak and 12-game reached base streak end**

Game 38, May 13: 0-4. AVG: .278
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 39, May 14: 1-3, double. AVG: .279
(3rd/LF/GS4)

^^Michael left the game after the top of the 5th inning with mid-back tightness and is day-to-day^^

May 15: precautionary day off, should play tomorrow.

Game 40, May 16: 1-4, single. AVG: .278
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 41, May 17: 1-3, walk (first at bat), single, run scored. AVG: .279
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 42, May 18: 2-3, walk (first at bat), single, home run, run scored, RBI walk. AVG: .287
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 43, May 19: 2-4, double, walk, hit by pitch, home run, run scored. AVG: .292
(3rd/LF/CG10) 

^^Michael hits first career walk-off home run^^

Game 44, May 20: 1-4, single (first at bat). AVG: .291
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 45, May 21: 4-7, 2-run single, stolen base, run scored, double, single, stolen base, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .302
(3rd/LF/CG13)

Game 46, May 22: 2-6, RBI triple, run scored, single, run scored. AVG: .303
(3rd/LF/CG13)

Game 47, May 23: 1-4, single, run scored. AVG: .302
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 48, May 24: 1-3, walk (first at bat), stolen base, RBI hit by pitch, single, run scored. AVG: .303
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 49, May 25: 1-4, single. AVG: .302
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 50, May 26: 2-3, RBI single, walk, stolen base, run scored, single. AVG: .307
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 51, May 27: 1-4, single. AVG: .306
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 52, May 28: 2-4, single, single, run scored. AVG: .310
(3rd/LF/CG8.1)

Game 53, May 30: 1-4, reached on fielder's choice (first at bat), run scored, double, run scored. AVG: .309
(3rd/LF/CG9) 

^^Michael sets new franchise record with 19-game home hitting streak^^
**Michael's 15-game hitting streak and 19-game home hitting streak end**

Game 54, May 31: 0-4. AVG: .303
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 55, June 1: 2-4, RBI single (first at bat), run scored, double, run scored. AVG: .307

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 56, June 2: 0-3, walk (first at bat), run scored. AVG: .302
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 57, June 3: 1-4, RBI single (first at bat), run scored. AVG: .301
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 58, June 4: 3-5, RBI single (first at bat), single, single, run scored. AVG: .308
(3rd/LF/CG12)

Game 59, June 6: 1-4, walk (first at bat), single. AVG: .307
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 60, June 7: 1-5, double, run scored. AVG: .305
(3rd/LF/CG9) 

**Michael's 10-game road hitting streak and 10-game road on-base streak end**

Game 61, June 8: 0-5, reached on fielder's choice. AVG: .298
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 62, June 9: 3-3, walk (first at bat), run scored, walk, run scored, home run, run scored, single, run scored, single, run scored. AVG: .307
(3rd/LF/GS7)

Game 63, June 10: 1-3, double (first at bat), hit by pitch, hit by pitch, run scored. AVG: .307
(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 64, June 11: 2-4, single (first at bat), single. AVG: .310

(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 65, June 12: 2-4, single, double, run scored. AVG: .313
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 66, June 13: 2-4, single (first at bat), RBI double, reached on fielding error. AVG: .316
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 67, June 14: 2-4, hit by pitch, stolen base, single, run scored, single. AVG: .319
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 68, June 15: 2-4, home run (first at bat), run scored, single, walk. AVG: .322
(3rd/LF/CG11) 

^^Michael sets new career high in home runs with 11^^

Game 69, June 16: 1-2, RBI single. AVG: .323
(3rd/LF/GS4)

^^Michael was removed from the game after the top of the 4th inning for precautionary reasons after taking a blow to the head/neck from John McDonald on slide into 2nd base while trying to break up a double play ^^

June 17: scratched from lineup at 4 pm. went through his pregame baseball activities and felt stiffness in his neck and pressure in his head. went to Cleveland Clinic for further evaluation and is currently day-to-day with head/neck soreness.
(3rd/LF)

June 18: has mild concussion, passing tests each day, hit off tee and played catch. might be back on field tomorrow, hopes to play June 21. game postponed, to be made up September 8.

June 19: ran on the field and threw before game, plus hit in the cage. tentative return still June 21.

June 20: ran the bases at full speed and took batting practice on the field. no ill effects. he was cleared to play in the 3rd/4th inning tonight, so…

Game 70, June 20: 1-1, single (first at bat). AVG: .326
(9th/PH)

**Michael's 9-game hitting streak and 16-game reached base streak end**

Game 71, June 21: 0-5. AVG: .320
(3rd/LF/CG10)

Game 72, June 22: 3-5, single (first at bat), RBI double, 2-run double. AVG: .325
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 73, June 24: 1-5, single, run scored, walk, walk, run scored. AVG: .323
(3rd/LF/CG13.1)

Game 74, June 25: 2-4, single (first at bat), RBI groundout, home run, run scored, walk, run scored. AVG: .325
(3rd/LF/CG9) 

**Michael's 9-game road hitting streak and 20-game road reached base streak end**

Game 75, June 27: 0-3, RBI sac fly. AVG: .322
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 76, June 28: 1-4, RBI single (first at bat), run scored. AVG: .321

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 77, June 29: 0-3, walk (first at bat). AVG: .318

(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 78, June 30: 0-3. AVG: .314

(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 79, July 1: 2-5, RBI double (first at bat), run scored, single. AVG: .316
(3rd/LF/CG9) 

^^Michael starts triple play with his 10th OF assist^^

Game 80, July 2: 0-4, reached on fielding error (first at bat), walk, stolen base, run scored. AVG: .312
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 81, July 4: 2-4, single, home run, run scored. AVG: .312
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 82, July 5: 3-5, single (first at bat), single, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .319
(3rd/LF – 8 i, CF – 1 i/CG9)

Game 83, July 6: 2-4, single, RBI single. AVG: .321
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 84, July 7: 2-4, single, single. AVG: .323
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 85, July 8: 3-4, RBI double (first at bat), RBI double, home run, run scored. AVG: .328
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 86, July 9: 1-6, single (first at bat), run scored, walk. AVG: .325

(3rd/CF/CG14)

Game 87, July 10: 2-4, single (first at bat), RBI sac fly, RBI single, run scored. AVG: .327
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 88, July 11: 1-4, single, run scored. AVG: .327

(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 89, July 12: 1-4, home run, run scored. AVG: .326
(3rd/CF/CG9)

**Michael's 9-game hitting streak and 11-game reached base streak end**

Game 90, July 13: 0-4. AVG: .322

(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 91, July 18: 4-5, single, single, stolen base, run scored, single, double, run scored. AVG: .329

(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 92, July 19 (Day Game): 1-5, bunt single (first at bat), caught stealing. AVG: .327
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 93, July 19 (Night Game): 2-4, double (first at bat), single, intentional walk, run scored. AVG: .329
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 94, July 20: 0-3, walk. AVG: .326

(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 95, July 21: 1-1, double (first at bat), run scored. AVG: .328
(5th/PH-CF – 1 i/8-GF)

^^Michael sets new career high in runs scored with 67^^

Game 96, July 22: 0-4, walk. AVG: .324
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 97, July 23: 0-4. AVG: .321

(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 98, July 24: 0-6. AVG: .316
(3rd/CF/CG13.1)

Game 99, July 25: 1-4, single, run scored. AVG: .315

(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 100, July 26: 2-5, RBI double, single. AVG: .316

(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 101, July 27: 2-4, RBI sac fly, single, run scored, double, run scored. AVG: .318

(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 102, July 29: 0-3, walk (first at bat). AVG: .316

(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 103, July 30: 0-3, walk. AVG: .313

(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 104, July 31: 2-3, RBI single (first at bat), triple, run scored, walk, stolen base, walk. AVG: .316
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 105, August 1: 3-4, RBI double (first at bat), single, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .320

(3rd/CF/GS5)

Game 106, August 2: 2-4, single (first at bat), single. AVG: .322
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 107, August 3: 2-6, double, home run, run scored. AVG: .322

(3rd/CF/CG12) 

^^Michael passes his father's career high HR total with his 2nd career walk-off home run^^

Game 108, August 4: 2-4, RBI groundout (first at bat), single, run scored, RBI single, stolen base. AVG: .324

(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 109, August 5: 1-4, RBI single (first at bat). AVG: .323

(3rd/CF/CG9) 

**Michael's 11-game reached base streak ends**

Game 110, August 6: 0-3. AVG: .321

(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, August 7: 1-4, double (first at bat). AVG: .320

(3rd/CF/CG8) 

^^Michael sets new career high in extra base hits with 48^^

Game 112, August 8: 1-3, walk, double, run scored, RBI walk, run scored. AVG: .320
(3rd/DH/CG) 

^^Michael sets new career high in total bases with 223^^

Game 113, August 9: 3-4, single (first at bat), single, home run, run scored. AVG: .324
(3rd/DH/CG) 

^^Michael sets new career high in RBI with 74^^

Game 114, 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, August 13 (Game 1): 1-4, 2-run single, reached on fielding error. AVG: .324
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 116, August 13 (Game 2): 2-5, single, double. AVG: .325

(3rd/DH/CG)

Game 117, August 15: 0-4. AVG: .322

(3rd/CF/CG11)

Game 118, August 16: 1-4, 2-run home run, run scored. AVG: .321

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 119, August 17: 0-3, walk (first at bat), stolen base. AVG: .319

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 120, August 19: 1-3, walk (first at bat), single, stolen base. AVG: .319

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 121, August 20: 0-4. AVG: .316

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 122, August 21: 0-4, reached on fielding error. AVG: .314

(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 123, August 22: 0-4. AVG: .311

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 124, August 23: 1-4, RBI single. AVG: .311
(3rd/LF/CG9)

August 24: not in lineup.

Game 125, August 26: 1-4, hit by pitch (first at bat), run scored, RBI double. AVG: .310
(3rd/LF/CG10)

Game 126, August 27: 0-4. AVG: .308

(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 127, August 28: 1-4, RBI single, stolen base, intentional walk. AVG: .307

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 128, August 29: 3-5, single, run scored, double, double. AVG: .310

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 129, August 30: 2-5, double (first at bat), RBI single, stolen base, run scored. AVG: .311

(3rd/LF/CG11)

Game 130, 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 131, September 1: 1-3, single (first at bat), run scored, walk. AVG: .310

(3rd/LF/GS5)

Game 132, September 2: 2-4, single (first at bat), run scored, walk, single. AVG: .311

(3rd/LF/CG9) 

^^Michael sets new career high in hits with 160^^

Game 133, September 3: 1-4, RBI single. AVG: .311

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 134, September 4: 2-5, double, run scored, RBI double. AVG: .312

(3rd/LF/CG11) 

^^Michael sets new career high in doubles with 38^^

Game 135, September 5: 1-4, single (first at bat), stolen base, run scored, reached on fielder's choice. AVG: .311

(3rd/LF/CG10)

^^Michael sets new career high in stolen bases with 18^^

Game 136, September 6: 3-4, single (first at bat), stolen base, single, RBI single. AVG: .315

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 137, September 7: 2-3, RBI single (first at bat), single, intentional walk. AVG: .317

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 138, September 8: 1-4, single. AVG: .316

(3rd/LF/GS8) 

**Michael's 12-game hitting streak ends**

Game 139, September 9: 0-3, walk. AVG: .314

(3rd/LF/CG9)

September 10: game postponed, to be made up September 11 at 12 pm in a traditional DH.

(3rd/LF)

Game 140, September 11 (Game 1): 2-3, walk (first at bat), run scored, RBI single, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .316

(3rd/DH/CG)

Game 141, September 11 (Game 2): 1-3, single (first at bat), walk. AVG: .316

(3rd/LF/CG9) 

^^Michael sets new career high in outfield assists with 12^^

Game 142, September 12: 2-4, single (first at bat), single. AVG: .318

(3rd/DH/CG) 

^^Michael sets new career high in plate appearances with 612^^

Game 143, September 13: 2-4, 2-run home run (first at bat), run scored, single, stolen base. AVG: .319

(3rd/LF/CG8) 

^^Michael sets new career high in at bats with 557^^

Game 144, September 14: 2-4, single, stolen base, RBI hit by pitch, single, run scored. AVG: .320

(3rd/LF/CG8) 

^^Michael sets new career high in singles with 120^^

Game 145, September 15: 2-4, double, single. AVG: .322

(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 146, September 16: 1-4, single (first at bat). AVG: .321

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 147, September 17: 2-4, bunt single, run scored, single, stolen base. AVG: .322

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 148, September 18: 1-5, reached on fielder's choice, single, intentional walk. AVG: .321

(3rd/LF/CG13)

Game 149, September 19: 2-5, home run, run scored, double, reached on fielding error. AVG: .322

(3rd/DH/CG) 

^^Michael joins 20-20 club for the first time in his career^^

Game 150, September 20: 2-4, walk (first at bat), double, run scored, single. AVG: .323

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 151, September 21: 3-5, RBI double, reached on force attempt/error, run scored, RBI single, single. AVG: .325

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 152, September 22: 1-3, single (first at bat), walk, stolen base. AVG: .326

(3rd/LF/CG9) 

^^Michael sets new career high in games played with 152^^

Game 153, September 23: 2-4, single (first at bat), reached on fielder's choice, double. AVG: .327

(3rd/LF/GS8)

Game 154, September 24: 3-4, single (first at bat), run scored, single, double. AVG: .329

(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 155, September 26: 0-3. AVG: .328

(3rd/LF/CG9) 

**Michael's 15-game hitting streak and 28-game on-base streak end**

Game 156, September 27: 1-4, single. AVG: .327

(3rd/LF/CG9) 

^^Michael sets new career high in innings played with 1297.2^^

^^Michael sets franchise record with 200th hit^^

September 28: not in lineup.

**Michael finishes season with career high .327 BA, .385 OBP, .506 SLG, and .890 OPS**
**Michael sets new career high in SB:CS with 23:1 and new career low in CS with 1**

**Michael Brantley finishes the 2014 season with a batting average of .327**

in 2014, Michael had a total of 676 plate appearances and 611 at bats in 156 games (1304.1 innings). in total, he had 200 hits, 133 singles, 45 doubles, 2 triples, 20 home runs, 97 RBI, 5 sac flies, 94 runs scored, 52 walks, 4 intentional walks, 8 hit by pitches, 23 stolen bases, 1 caught stealing, 16 GIDP, 56 strikeouts (38 swinging, 18 looking), 51 first at bat hits, 309 total bases, 211 left on base, 271 putouts, 12 assists, 2 double plays, and 1 error.

2014 batting average: .327 (200-611)

OBP: .385

SLG: .506

OPS: .890

next up: a blog breaking down Michael's #s according to where he hit in the lineup.

previous blog:
Brantley's 2014 Career Highs, Career Firsts, & Franchise Records

Brantley's 2014 Second Half #s

time for another little blog documenting Michael's second half numbers. the 2nd half of the 2014 season was comprised of 68 games for the Indians. i still don't get how they refer to this as a "half," but it is what it is. just like in the 1st half blog, i won't be doing post-break BOP break downs here; i'm only including the game-by-game numbers and notes.

Michael's batting average in the second half was .335, best on the team. the fact that he could improve upon his first half batting average of .322 is phenomenal. he had an 11-game slump in August, but his .416 September BA more than compensated for that. comparing his past 1st/2nd half batting averages, Michael hit .288/.288 in 2012, and .279/.291 in 2013. so it looks like he's beginning to trend upwards in the 2nd halves now. i'll take that.

Michael did not surpass his 1st half numbers in many categories simply because he played less games in this 2nd half of the season. not to mention he excelled in just about everything in his 1st half, so that would be tough to top. however, he did have 23 doubles versus 22 pre-All Star break, and 13 stolen bases versus 10 pre-ASB. as stated above, his batting average improved 13 points and he also drew all 4 of his intentional walks in this 2nd half.

Michael had a hit in 51 of the 66 games he played in post-All Star break. during these 66 games, Michael had a few significant hitting streaks, including

--5-straight multi-hit games from July 31 - August 4 (for the third time this season).

--a 12-game hitting streak from August 28 - September 8.

--and for the second time this season, a 15-game hitting streak from September 11-24 (over 14 days).

Michael reached base safely in 58 games and had a couple of long reached base streaks as well. he

--reached base in 11 straight games from July 25 - August 5.

--reached base in 28 straight games from August 28 - September 24.

after the All Star break, Michael bat .329 (54-for-164) against right-handed pitchers and .344 (33-for-96) against left-handed pitchers, the latter being a 69 point increase from the 1st half.

he hit .342 (40-for-117) with 18 RBI at home and .329 (47-for-143) on the road. his road BA improved by 49 points in the 2nd half.

Michael also bat .397 (25-for-63) with runners in scoring position, totaling 29 RBI. that's a 37 point increase from the 1st half and a 9 point increase from his 2nd half in 2013. additionally, he hit .364 (4-for-11) with 0 outs and runners in scoring position, .462 (12-for-26) with 1 out and RISP, and .346 (9-for-26) with 2 outs and RISP and 11 RBI. his RISP with 2 outs increased by 68 points in this 2nd half and 26 points compared with 2013.

post-break, Michael had a batting average of .320 (32-for-100) with 31 RBI with runners on base and .000 (0-for-1) with 2 RBI when the bases were loaded, both decreases from the 1st half. on the contrary, he bat .396 (40-for-101) with 12 RBI with 2 outs in an inning, and that's a 107 point improvement in the 2nd half.

Michael led the team in the 2nd half with: 87 hits, 29 extra base hits, 127 total bases, 58 singles, 23 doubles, 31 runs, 4 intentional walks (tied), 2 hit by pitches (tied), 13 stolen bases, 13:1 stolen base:caught stealing ratio, 260 at bats, .335 batting average, .388 OBP, and .877 OPS.

he was 2nd on the team with 22 walks, 66 games, 286 plate appearances, and .488 SLG. he was also 3rd with 34 RBI, and 4th with 1 triple (tied), 5 home runs, and 2 sac flies (tied). he had the least amount of strikeouts with 24 as well.

(these rankings include qualifiers only.)

Michael put together one of the better 2nd halves he's ever had in the big leagues this season. as a result, he had 2nd half career highs of: 87 hits, 29 extra base hits, 127 total bases, 58 singles, 3 doubles, 5 home runs, 34 RBI, 13 stolen bases, 13/1 stolen base/caught stealing ratio, 286 plate appearances, 260 at bats, .335 BA, .388 OBP, .488 SLG, and .877 OPS.

furthermore, Michael joined the 20-20 club for the first time in his career. and he set a new franchise record when he got his final hit, his 200th hit of the season. that made him the 1st Indians player in franchise history to ever have 200 hits, 40 doubles, 20 home runs, and 20 stolen bases in one season.

also in this 2nd half, Michael hit safely in 24 of 31 home games overall. he had 28 multi-hit games, multi-hitting in 42.4% of the games he played in. he recorded an RBI in 26 out of 66 games (39.4%) and had 8 multi-RBI games. he had 7 3+ hit games post-ASB as well.

Michael played both center and left field after the break, but mostly left. he did not make any errors and had a perfect 1.000 overall fielding percentage. so, obviously, his fielding percentage in left field was a perfect 1.000 and his fielding percentage in center was also 1.000. he had a total of 116 putouts, 2 outfield assists, and 1 double play.


2nd Half batting average: .335

OBP: .388

SLG: .488

OPS: .877


2nd Half of July BA: .278

August BA: .286

September BA: .416


Michael played in 66 (of 68) games, 60 complete, after the All Star break.

he started and played center in 22 games, completing 20 of those games.

he came in to PH in the top of the 8th inning for 1 game, and then played 1 inning in center field as part of a defensive substitution.

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 played left in 36 games, completing 33 of those games.

he was subbed out of 1 game after 7 innings because the Indians were getting blown out.

he was subbed out of 1 game after 8 innings because the Indians were losing.

he was lifted for a pinch runner in 1 game after hitting a double and playing 8 innings in left field prior to his final at bat of the night in a game where the Indians were getting blown out.

he started and was the DH for 7 complete games.

he had 2 games off.

Michael bat 3rd in 65 games.

Michael bat 5th in 1 game. (PH)


Michael played center field in 23 games, for a total of 196.2 innings. (20 complete, 1 defensive sub (PH): 1 inning, 1 subbed out: 5 innings, 1 left early w/ injury: 6.1 innings)

Michael played left field in 36 games, for a total of 326 innings. (33 complete, 2 subbed out: 15 innings, 1 lifted for PR: 8 innings)

Michael was the PH in 1 game.

Michael was the DH in 7 games.

Michael played in 60 complete games.


in the second half, Michael had a total of 286 plate appearances and 260 at bats. here is how he fared:

87 hits

58 singles

23 doubles

1 triple

5 home runs

34 RBI

2 sac flies

31 runs scored

22 walks

4 intentional walks

13 stolen bases

1 caught stealing

6 GIDP

24 strikeouts (14 swinging, 10 looking)

23 first at bat hits

127 total bases


85 left on base

116 putouts

2 assists

1 double play

522.2 innings, 66 games

(60 complete games)

2nd Half batting average: .335 (87-260) (66 games)

now my game-by-game numbers and notes.

Game 91/Game 1, July 18: 4-5, single, single, stolen base, run scored, single, double, run scored. AVG: .329
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 92/Game 2, July 19 (Day Game): 1-5, bunt single (first at bat), caught stealing. AVG: .327
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 93/Game 3, July 19 (Night Game): 2-4, double (first at bat), single, intentional walk, run scored. AVG: .329
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 94/Game 4, July 20: 0-3, walk. AVG: .326
(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 95/Game 5, July 21: 1-1, double (first at bat), run scored. AVG: .328
(5th/PH-CF – 1 i/8-GF)

^^Michael sets new career high in runs scored with 67^^

Game 96/Game 6, July 22: 0-4, walk. AVG: .324
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 97/Game 7, July 23: 0-4. AVG: .321
(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 98/Game 8, July 24: 0-6. AVG: .316
(3rd/CF/CG13.1)

Game 99/Game 9, July 25: 1-4, single, run scored. AVG: .315
(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 100/Game 10, July 26: 2-5, RBI double, single. AVG: .316
(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 101/Game 11, July 27: 2-4, RBI sac fly, single, run scored, double, run scored. AVG: .318
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 102/Game 12, July 29: 0-3, walk (first at bat). AVG: .316
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 103/Game 13, July 30: 0-3, walk. AVG: .313
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 104/Game 14, July 31: 2-3, RBI single (first at bat), triple, run scored, walk, stolen base, walk. AVG: .316
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 105/Game 15, August 1: 3-4, RBI double (first at bat), single, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .320
(3rd/CF/GS5)

Game 106/Game 16, August 2: 2-4, single (first at bat), single. AVG: .322
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 107/Game 17, August 3: 2-6, double, home run, run scored. AVG: .322
(3rd/CF/CG12)

^^Michael passes his father's career high HR total with his 2nd career walk-off home run^^

Game 108/Game 18, August 4: 2-4, RBI groundout (first at bat), single, run scored, RBI single, stolen base. AVG: .324
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 109/Game 19, August 5: 1-4, RBI single (first at bat). AVG: .323
(3rd/CF/CG9)

**Michael's 11-game reached base streak ends**

Game 110/Game 20, August 6: 0-3. AVG: .321
(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 21, August 7: 1-4, double (first at bat). AVG: .320
(3rd/CF/CG8)

^^Michael sets new career high in extra base hits with 48^^

Game 112/Game 22, August 8: 1-3, walk, double, run scored, RBI walk, run scored. AVG: .320
(3rd/DH/CG)

^^Michael sets new career high in total bases with 223^^

Game 113/Game 23, August 9: 3-4, single (first at bat), single, home run, run scored. AVG: .324
(3rd/DH/CG)

^^Michael sets new career high in RBI with 74^^

Game 114/Game 24, 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 25, August 13 (Game 1): 1-4, 2-run single, reached on fielding error. AVG: .324
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 116/Game 26, August 13 (Game 2): 2-5, single, double. AVG: .325
(3rd/DH/CG)

Game 117/Game 27, August 15: 0-4. AVG: .322
(3rd/CF/CG11)

Game 118/Game 28, August 16: 1-4, 2-run home run, run scored. AVG: .321
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 119/Game 29, August 17: 0-3, walk (first at bat), stolen base. AVG: .319
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 120/Game 30, August 19: 1-3, walk (first at bat), single, stolen base. AVG: .319
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 121/Game 31, August 20: 0-4. AVG: .316
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 122/Game 32, August 21: 0-4, reached on fielding error. AVG: .314
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 123/Game 33, August 22: 0-4. AVG: .311
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 124/Game 34, August 23: 1-4, RBI single. AVG: .311
(3rd/LF/CG9)

August 24: not in lineup.

Game 125/Game 35, August 26: 1-4, hit by pitch (first at bat), run scored, RBI double. AVG: .310
(3rd/LF/CG10)

Game 126/Game 36, August 27: 0-4. AVG: .308
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 127/Game 37, August 28: 1-4, RBI single, stolen base, intentional walk. AVG: .307
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 128/Game 38, August 29: 3-5, single, run scored, double, double. AVG: .310
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 129/Game 39, August 30: 2-5, double (first at bat), RBI single, stolen base, run scored. AVG: .311
(3rd/LF/CG11)

Game 130/Game 40, 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 131/Game 41, September 1: 1-3, single (first at bat), run scored, walk. AVG: .310
(3rd/LF/GS5)

Game 132/Game 42, September 2: 2-4, single (first at bat), run scored, walk, single. AVG: .311
(3rd/LF/CG9)

^^Michael sets new career high in hits with 160^^

Game 133/Game 43, September 3: 1-4, RBI single. AVG: .311
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 134/Game 44, September 4: 2-5, double, run scored, RBI double. AVG: .312
(3rd/LF/CG11)

^^Michael sets new career high in doubles with 38^^

Game 135/Game 45, September 5: 1-4, single (first at bat), stolen base, run scored, reached on fielder's choice. AVG: .311
(3rd/LF/CG10)

^^Michael sets new career high in stolen bases with 18^^

Game 136/Game 46, September 6: 3-4, single (first at bat), stolen base, single, RBI single. AVG: .315
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 137/Game 47, September 7: 2-3, RBI single (first at bat), single, intentional walk. AVG: .317
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 138/Game 48, September 8: 1-4, single. AVG: .316
(3rd/LF/GS8)

**Michael's 12-game hitting streak ends**

Game 139/Game 49, September 9: 0-3, walk. AVG: .314
(3rd/LF/CG9)

September 10: game postponed, to be made up September 11 at 12 pm in a traditional DH.
(3rd/LF)

Game 140/Game 50, September 11 (Game 1): 2-3, walk (first at bat), run scored, RBI single, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .316
(3rd/DH/CG)

Game 141/Game 51, September 11 (Game 2): 1-3, single (first at bat), walk. AVG: .316
(3rd/LF/CG9)

^^Michael sets new career high in outfield assists with 12^^

Game 142/Game 52, September 12: 2-4, single (first at bat), single. AVG: .318
(3rd/DH/CG)

^^Michael sets new career high in plate appearances with 612^^

Game 143/Game 53, September 13: 2-4, 2-run home run (first at bat), run scored, single, stolen base. AVG: .319
(3rd/LF/CG8)

^^Michael sets new career high in at bats with 557^^

Game 144/Game 54, September 14: 2-4, single, stolen base, RBI hit by pitch, single, run scored. AVG: .320
(3rd/LF/CG8)

^^Michael sets new career high in singles with 120^^

Game 145/Game 55, September 15: 2-4, double, single. AVG: .322
(3rd/LF/CG8)

Game 146/Game 56, September 16: 1-4, single (first at bat). AVG: .321
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 147/Game 57, September 17: 2-4, bunt single, run scored, single, stolen base. AVG: .322
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 148/Game 58, September 18: 1-5, reached on fielder's choice, single, intentional walk. AVG: .321
(3rd/LF/CG13)

Game 149/Game 59, September 19: 2-5, home run, run scored, double, reached on fielding error. AVG: .322
(3rd/DH/CG)

^^Michael joins 20-20 club for the first time in his career^^

Game 150/Game 60, September 20: 2-4, walk (first at bat), double, run scored, single. AVG: .323
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 151/Game 61, September 21: 3-5, RBI double, reached on force attempt/error, run scored, RBI single, single. AVG: .325
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 152/Game 62, September 22: 1-3, single (first at bat), walk, stolen base. AVG: .326
(3rd/LF/CG9)

^^Michael sets new career high in games played with 152^^

Game 153/Game 63, September 23: 2-4, single (first at bat), reached on fielder's choice, double. AVG: .327
(3rd/LF/GS8)

Game 154/Game 64, September 24: 3-4, single (first at bat), run scored, single, double. AVG: .329
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 155/Game 65, September 26: 0-3. AVG: .328
(3rd/LF/CG9)

**Michael's 15-game hitting streak and 28-game on-base streak end**

Game 156/Game 66, September 27: 1-4, single. AVG: .327
(3rd/LF/CG9)

^^Michael sets new career high in innings played with 1297.2^^

^^Michael sets franchise record with 200th hit^^

September 28: not in lineup.

**Michael finishes season with career high .327 BA, .385 OBP, .506 SLG, and .890 OPS**
**Michael sets new career high in SB:CS with 23:1 and new career low in CS with 1**

click here for Brantley's 2014 First Half #s

Brantley's July 2014 #s

before i get into the July numeros, i want to take a minute to put the spotlight on a few more viewers from outside the United States who have been frequenting and reading my blog--hello Malaysia and Poland! thank you so much for coming here and reading all about Michael.

and to everyone else who viewed my blog last month, whatever your intentions, i thank you, too. getting more views really does help my blogspot. but now i have this to say. this is my All Things Brantley, All Things Tribe blog. you won't find any other content here. if you're not interested in reading about Michael and the Tribe, simply do not come here. i will not approve any comments that attack me, or contain any non-Brantley/non-Indians discussions. if you don't like what i write here, you know where the X button is in your top right corner. bye Felicia! now back to business.


Michael started the month of July with the best numbers he's ever had because his June was the best June of his career. but something happened after the All Star break, and he went through a mini-slump where it seemed like he couldn't hit anything all the sudden. he just couldn't catch a break when he came to bat with runners in scoring position, against left-handed pitching, and with 2 outs in an inning. Michael played in the All Star game this month, so he didn't get the full break that the other players got, but i don't think you can use that as an excuse. i know he wouldn't. so i can't really explain his struggles. yes, he once again was robbed of several hits due to stellar defense from the opposition, but there was also a short stretch where he didn't have quality at bats (imo). we finally didn't have any interleague games at the end of the month, but the Indians did face 2 tough Seattle pitchers, which didn't help Michael finish the month on a high note. however, he did still rack up some more career highs, mostly (and thankfully) due to his hot start to July.

his batting average increased yet again, albeit only up by .002 from the end of last month. but it was almost a tale of 2 Julys. he played very well up to the All Star break, then hit a snag after. he got his BA all the way up to .329, and it dipped down as low as .313 before he finished July with a .316 batting average. that currently ranks 5th in the American League, 7th in the majors, and 2nd among major league outfielders. i tell ya, for a guy who has never been batting over .300 at this point in the season, to be able to sustain this is extremely impressive. and if he continues to hit the way he has been and doesn't fall into any long-term slumps, then he could have a real shot at the AL batting title. i never thought i'd be able to say that lol =D

speaking of a batting race, there have been 2 players on the Indians who have excelled in hitting pretty much all year. Michael has led the team in batting average steadily since he got past that April slump. but on July 9, Lonnie Chisenhall finally had enough plate appearances to become a qualifier. Chisenhall had a higher batting average than Michael for most of the year, but it took him 90 games into the season to qualify. Chiz was, as i refer to it, "babied" at the beginning of the season. he only started in games against right-handed pitchers and was removed later when lefties came out of the bullpen. this strategy was carried out by Francona in order to give Chiz confidence. and Chiz did very well against an all righties mound squad. so after a while, Francona gradually allowed Chiz to hit against lefties, and with his newfound confidence, he started doing well against the left-handed pitchers, too. because of this, he was able to retain a batting average in the upper .300s for the majority of the 1st half of the season, before recently coming back down to earth in late-June and July.

Chiz passed Michael's batting average on July 11, officially taking the team lead. then they pretty much went back and forth, trading the lead until the end of the month. (Chiz finished July batting .307, 9 points behind Michael.) this will probably continue for the rest of the season unless someone gets really hot, goes really cold, or god forbid gets hurt and misses significant time.

on July 20, Chiz suggested that there should be a friendly wager between himself and Michael about who finishes the year with the highest batting average. before the July 21 game, Michael said a wager hadn't yet been made. "i said this in the past, i don't look at stats. stats are something i look back on at the end of the year. he can play chase or i can play chase, it doesn't really matter to me whatsoever. the only thing that matters at the end of the year is that we go to the postseason." (well don't i feel like a dipshit then for doing all these lengthy break down blogs every month. facepalm lol)

i'm curious to know what Chiz's average would have been had he played regularly, like Michael, from the start of the year and faced all the tough pitchers that Michael had to go against. so while Chiz does have the 2nd highest BA on the team right now, i'm just not sold on it because of the way it was accomplished. not to mention he's really starting to lose steam, having dropped 54 points in the last 2 months, while Michael, even through his struggles, has maintained above average numbers.

similarly to June, Michael again had quite a few loud outs in July. he is not letting up on the gas pedal where that is concerned, as he currently leads the team in line drive outs. still, most of his outs are coming by way of groundouts. he now has 145 grounders vs. 110 flyouts through July, and leads the team in those particular outs as well. so how can it be possible that he leads the team in 3 different types of outs when he has the highest batting average? well that's probably because Michael has a team low in strikeouts. in his 452 plate appearances, he's compiled an 8.4% strikeout rate, also lowest among outfielders in the American League. Michael remains one of the toughest batters to strike out in the AL. he also rates among the best in the majors at hitting pitches in the upper half of the strike zone, and had a hard-hit rate of 22.2% on July 27, ranking him 15th in the majors.

but let's go back to Michael's loud outs for a minute. a lot of the outs that occurred during his slump on the post-All Star break road trip were loud line drive outs. that's nothing new. even Francona simply said, "good hitters are going to line out" about it. and Michael was also unphased by his bad luck. "my goal is to keep doing the same thing i'm doing. i know that stats don't look like that, but i'm happy with the way i'm swinging the bat. i'm still putting the barrel on the ball consistently, swinging at good quality strikes, and hitting the ball hard. as long as i continue to do that, good things are going to continue to happen. if you look at the stats, it doesn't look like i'm swinging the bat that well. but in my mind and what i'm doing on film, everything is correct. so i've got to stay right there."

i'm sure Michael was also talking to his father about his performance to get his opinions and advice. i trust what Michael said, that he's looked at film and doesn't think there's anything that he needs to change right now. so hopefully the balls he's hitting hard will start finding holes again and some of his stats will look better soon.

okay now, stop me if you've heard this one. during the July 5 game, Michael Bourn re-injured his hamstring, so (my) Michael was moved over to center field. when Bourn went on the DL the very next day, Michael began seeing regular playing time in center again. (and it sounds as though Michael will continue to play center at least through the beginning of August as well.) on the one hand, i was all for that because i know that the center fielder generally records more putouts in games than the left fielder. not only that, but because the one blemish on Michael's fielding percentage came while he was playing center, the more putouts he can now get as a center fielder, the higher his CF fielding percentage will become.

but on the other hand, the one disadvantage of playing center is there are usually a lot less opportunities for outfield assists. this is mostly because you are getting more putout chances since you're covering more ground in the outfield. runners are more likely to test a player's arm when the ball goes into one of the outfield corners as opposed to bloops in center and balls hit off the center field wall. plus, sometimes it's harder when you're back in the furthest part of the park/deep center field to get a throw in to the cutoff man in time to nail the runner at 2nd or 3rd base. as a result, Michael did not have any assists while playing center this month.

Michael is a great defender whether he's playing left or center, but sometimes when he's not manning that left field wall, his backups can have some serious blunders. at one point this month, Tom Hamilton even eluded to how Michael's defense in left was missed. there's an article written about past Indian left fielders here, though Meisel left out that one time when Carlos Santana played left. i remember it because i was there for it.

in regards to the batting order, Michael again continued to bat 3rd for almost the whole month. he pinch hit once in the 5th spot on a day he was supposed to have off and hit a double and scored a run. Kipnis was then promoted to the leadoff spot once Bourn went on the DL. Kip had his ups and downs, and the player in the #2 spot seemed to be revolving all month. similarly to last month, Michael came to bat so many times with 2 outs in the 1st inning because the first 2 guys couldn't get on base, and if i didn't personally keep track of this number to know exactly how many times this occurred, i wouldn't be able to count it. needless to say, this did not help Michael increase his RBI total. in fact, approximately 23% of his RBIs this month came from the 3 solo home runs he hit.

you know what else didn't help him acquire more RBIs? all the times that Michael would come to bat with runners on base when he couldn't manage to get a hit. as i mentioned above, he was struggling for a significant stretch almost immediately after the All Star break and then had to bat so much with 2 outs in an inning. consequently, his numbers in this category dropped substantially, but because they were higher prior to July, the overall numbers are still respectable. he did miss out on a lot of RBIs though.

if i had to pinpoint one more reason for his missed RBI opportunities, it would have to be his continued aggressive hitting. and it looks like that's here to stay. Michael's having a lot of quick at bats. sometimes he gets on base, sometimes he doesn't. and although this continues to irk me because i'd much prefer him to work the count, i'm not going to question him because he knows pitches better than i do. but where his left-handed hitting, 2-out hitting, and RISP with 2 outs numbers are concerned, i wanna see improved and more quality at bats so he can get those numbers back up to where i believe they should be, and drive in those runners when they're on base waiting for him. i know he can do it.

Michael had a hit in 18 of the 26 games he played in July and reached base safely in 23 games. Michael reached base in 11 straight games from July 1-12. he had 8 0-fers this month, including 4 in 5 games from July 20-24. however, he did still safely reach base in 5 of the 8 games he went hitless in.

Michael had a 9-game hitting streak this month from July 4-12. during his streak, he bat .436 (17-for-39) with 17 hits, 5 for extra bases. he hit 2 doubles and 3 home runs, giving him 28 total bases. he had 9 RBI, 1 sac fly, 7 runs, 1 walk, 2 GIDP and only 2 strikeouts. his OBP was .439, his SLG was .718, and his OPS was 1.157.

Michael had 5-straight multi-hit games from July 4-8, his second such streak of the season. during this streak, he bat .571 (12-for-21) with 12 hits and 20 total bases. he hit 2 doubles and 2 home runs, giving him 4 extra base hits. he also had 6 RBI, 3 runs, and 0 strikeouts. his OBP was .571, his SLG was .952, and his OPS was 1.524. the last Cleveland Indian to have two 5 multi-hit game streaks was Omar Vizquel in 1999, so Michael's in some good company right there. almost as if déjà vu though, this streak ended on July 9 after Michael got hit in the head running to 2nd base on a throwing error by Yankee 1st baseman Mark Teixeira. and while Michael did not leave the game this time, he oddly could not record another hit in 6 further plate appearances.

Michael is now batting .344 (95-for-276) against right-handed pitchers and .256 (33-for-129) against left-handed pitchers. his average against righties increased once again, but it was struggle city against the lefties for Michael this month and that overall BA went down 31 points. you can continue to make the argument that he faces way more right-handed pitchers than left, but still, at some point he needs to hit more consistently against those lefties. and the fact that he's doing so outstanding this season against righties only makes the BA against lefties look worse. nevertheless, i remain confident that he will do better in the final 2 months of the season.

Michael's batting .354 (68-for-192) at home, with 40 RBI and .282 (60-for-213) on the road. his home BA ranks near the top in all of the American League. he's been very consistent with his road hitting as well to keep that BA almost identical to what it was at the end of last month. and i know his home and road BAs seem very far apart, but i can't complain. he seems to be on a serious tear when he's in his own backyard, which is great. but get rid of that and just look at the road BA for a second. i think you have to be satisfied with it because that's still very good. some players are batting a lot worse than that.

Michael continues to put up good numbers when the team needs him. he's now batting .344 (33-for-96) with runners in scoring position, totaling 50 RBI, which is yet another increase from the end of last month. he's also hitting .353 (6-for-17) with 0 outs and runners in scoring position, an increased .421 (16-for-38) with 1 out and RISP, and an improved .268 (11-for-41) with 2 outs and RISP and 17 RBI. Michael is batting .346 (56-for-162) with 54 RBI with runners on base, and .545 (6-for-11) with 17 RBI when the bases are loaded. he had a lot of at bats with 2 outs again this month, and he's now down to batting .273 (39-for-143) with 23 RBI with 2 outs in an inning.

Michael hit 3 more (solo) home runs in July. add that to the new career high he set last month, and he now has 15 homers total. but it wasn't enough to hold onto the team lead, as he's now 2nd in home runs. (i go into more detail about this further down in the blog.) on a happier note, Michael has now tied his father's career high home run total of 15. with 2 months to go, he is assuredly going to become the new Brantley in the family with the most home runs hit in one season.

when asked on July 12 about this then team leading 15 home runs, Michael had this to say. "i've said it before, i'm not a home run hitter. i put good swings on the ball and whatever happens after that is out of my control. the key is to put good consistent swings on the ball as much as possible. i'm older (27), smarter, and i work hard. i haven't changed my approach at all. it's all about putting the barrel on the ball consistently. i don't have a real reason why. i'm just putting the barrel on the ball. if it goes out, it goes out. i don't control that. i just try to put the barrel on the ball as much as possible."

he may no longer be the team's home run leader, but Michael does remain the team leader with his 66 RBI, also a career high for him through July. his 66th RBI didn't come last year until September 21. it's a very safe assumption that Michael will definitely set a new RBI career high for himself in August. he only needs 7 to tie and 8 to break it. his 66 RBI currently rank 5th among American League outfielders, 13th in the American League, and 16th overall in the majors.

so i didn't get the 15 RBI that i wanted from him this month. and as i said earlier, Michael had plenty of chances to get at least that, and then some. but i've noticed he's trending downward monthly in the RBI department. he had 20 in March/April, 19 in May, 14 in June, and now 13 in July. i know it's not realistic to expect him to drive in 20 guys every month, and he's certainly not going to be able to drive home every guy who's on base when he comes up to bat. but he left 35 runners on base in 26 games this month. i'd really like to see that improve, aka him not leave so many guys on in August and September.

since Michael hit another 3 solo homers this month, let me redo the HR/RBI ratio stats. 12 of his 15 home runs have been solo, while the other 3 were 2-run homers. this means 12 of his 66 RBI (18.2%) have come from solo homers, and 18 of his 66 RBI (27.3%) have come from all 15 of his home runs. Michael continues to have the majority of his at bats (243) when no one is on base, but i'm still hoping in these last 2 months that Michael can hit at least one 3-run bomb for me.

Michael set another career high this month in the runs scored category. when he came in to pinch hit in the July 21 game, he scored a run after initially getting on base with a double, giving him his 67th run scored. last season he had a total of 66 runs scored, and that was his career best until now. when the month of July ended, Michael had a total of 71 runs. every other run he scores through the end of the season will add to his new career high. i wrote a short blog about this here.

aside from once again leading the team in RBI (66)* and runs (71)*, Michael also leads the team with: 128 hits*, 44 extra base hits*, 204 total bases*, 84 singles*, 27 doubles, 104 games*, 452 plate appearances*, 405 at bats*, .316 BA*, .378 OBP*, .504 SLG*, and .882 OPS*. he also leads the outfielders with 10 assists* and has the best stolen base:caught stealing ratio (12-for-13) on the team*.

he's 2nd on the team with 15 home runs*, 4 sac flies, 37 walks*, 6 hit by pitches*, and 12 stolen bases. he has the least amount of strikeouts with 38* as well.

(*denotes these are also career highs for Michael through July. these rankings include qualifiers only.)

this was definitely not the best July Michael's ever had. he set several career highs in 2012 that he's yet to break. but after doing more research, i found that Michael set career highs for himself in the month of July with the following: 34 hits, 12 extra base hits, 53 total bases, 8 doubles, 2 sac flies, 17 runs, 117 plate appearances, and 106 at bats.

now let's get into some other facts about Michael's season thus far. he's hit safely in 40 of 49 home games and 80 of 104 games overall. he now has 36 multi-hit games, meaning he's multi-hit in 34.6% of the games he's played in. (wow.) he has 15 multi-RBI games along with 19 go-ahead hits and 21 go-ahead RBI. plus, he's recorded a total of 10 games with 3 or more hits so far this season, leading the team.

comparing his numbers to the other qualifying outfielders in the American League, Michael is 1st in batting average (.316), 2nd in hits (128) and runs scored (71), 3rd in OBP (.378) and OPS (.882), tied for 3rd in doubles (27), 4th in SLG (.504), 5th in RBI (66) and total bases (204), tied for 5th in extra base hits (44), and tied for 7th in home runs (15). furthermore, his OBP ranks 6th, his SLG ranks 9th, and his OPS ranks 8th overall in the AL.

how about some July standout moments? on July 6, it was announced that Michael had made the American League All Star team. he was voted in as a reserve by his peers. i was so happy and proud of him, and of course i wrote a blog about it here.

on July 8, Michael became just the third player this year to record three hits off New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. the other players who had 3 hits off Tanaka are Dustin Pedroia and former Cleveland Indian Luis Valbuena. Michael's 3 hits in this game gave him a team high 9 games with 3 or more hits this season. also at this time, he had a team high 30 multi-hit games, making him the most recent Indians player to have at least 30 multi-hit games within the ballclub's first 89 games of the season. the last player to achieve this was Grady Sizemore in 2006.

also on July 8, Michael became the first Indians player to have at least 60 RBI in a 1st half since Victor Martinez in 2007. dating back to 1914, Michael is now only the 2nd Indians player to have hit .300 or more with at least 35 extra base hits, 60 RBI, and 10 stolen bases in the 1st half of the season. Roberto Alomar previously did it in 1999. i wrote a blog with all of Michael's 1st half numbers here.

additionally on July 8, Michael and LA Angels outfielder Mike Trout were the only two players in the major leagues with at least a .300 batting average, 35 extra base hits, 60 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. not only that, but Michael was the only major league player at that time with at least a .310 batting average, 10+ home runs, 20+ doubles, 60+ RBI, 50+ runs, and 10+ stolen bases. work lol

but alas, not all of these events can be good. on July 9, Michael struck out (looking) for the first time since June 22. he went 60 plate appearances without a strikeout, the longest active streak in the major leagues at that time. it was also the longest streak by a Cleveland Indian since Matt Lawton had 61 straight plate appearances without a strikeout in 2004. so close! as you already know, Michael is one of the hardest batters in the league to strike out. before his strikeout in this game, he was the 3rd hardest batter in the American League to strike out.

the July 9 game also brought about another injury scare, for me anyways. in a game against the Yankees in the bottom of the 1st inning, Michael hit a single and was on base at 1st. Santana was the next batter and when he made contact at the plate, Mark Teixeira threw the ball to 2nd base to get Michael out, but the ball accidentally hit Michael in the head. and i was like omg not again. after that clunk to the head, Michael kept playing and thankfully there was no sign of another possible concussion. but his 5 multi-hit game streak did come to an end. oh, and that strikeout that he recorded? yeah that was in his first at bat after the head plunk. typical.

also during the July 9 game, Michael lost his team lead in the stolen bases category. however, he currently has the best stolen base/caught stealing ratio on the team.

on July 10, a day after he recorded his first strikeout in 17 days, Michael grounded into his first double play since June 2.

on July 12, Michael took sole possession of the team lead in home runs when he hit his 15th homer. but he lost his (tied) team lead in home runs for good on July 25 after Santana hit 2 homers in one game. and by July 28, Santana had hit 3 more home runs, making it clear that Michael would probably not be able to get the team lead back or even just tie it again. for what it's worth, the fact that Michael ever led the team in home runs, and that he did it for as long as he did, is quite remarkable. no worries though, he's still the team leader in several other important facets of the game.

on July 15, Michael played in his first All Star game. he went 0-for-1, played 4 innings in center field, and recorded 1 putout. he was very excited to share the experience with his family, his father especially, who he credits for helping him become a successful big league player. "he's probably the biggest influence on my career. he's here to have this with me, this experience. without him, i don't know if i could be here right now at this level. he taught me a lot of what i know. i still use him for information today." i wrote a blog about Michael's entire All Star experience here.

on July 18, the first game back after the All Star break, Michael went 4-for-5, totaling 4 hits in 1 game for the first time this season, and 7th time in his career. he had 3 singles, 1 double, 2 runs, and 1 stolen base. that brought his BA up to .329, allowing him to retake the team lead in batting average.

during Game 1 on July 19 against Detroit, Michael was caught stealing for the first time in 12 attempts. then during Game 2 on July 19, he was intentionally walked for the first time this year.

on July 22, Michael was named the Indians recipient of the 2014 MLBPAA Heart & Hustle Award. one player from every team in the league is chosen for this preliminary honor and then one final winner is picked, through voting, at the end of the year. i wrote a blog with all the details about this award here.

on July 24, for the first time in Michael's career, he went 0-for-6 in a 14-inning game. it marked the 3rd straight game where he was hitless, and brought him to 1-for-18 in his last 5 games from July 20-24. ouch. this is when his left-handed pitching and 2-out stats really went down. he also left 9 guys on base in 2 games (July 23-24). anyway you slice it, he was struggling.

during the Indians' 4-game Kansas City series from July 24-27, Michael was robbed of 3 hits by center fielder Jarrod Dyson. "he's a great defender with above-average speed. i couldn't get a ball away from him. he told me on one ball he didn't even see it. he just dove, stuck his glove out and the ball went in. so that was the kind of luck i was having."

on July 29, Michael drew just the 3rd 4-pitch walk of the season issued by Seattle Mariner Hisasha Iwakuma. it was the first walk Iwakuma had allowed in 36.1 innings in his last 6 starts. Iwakuma had only given up 9 walks total in 117.2 innings in 17 starts. Michael was only the 8th batter to even see a 3-0 count from Iwakuma this season.

on July 31, Michael recorded at least 1 triple, 1 run, 2 walks, and 1 stolen base against the Seattle Mariners. in doing so, he became the first Indian with at least those marks in a game since Albert Belle on September 1, 1993.

well i think i've given more than enough attention to Michael's July offense, so now let's talk about his defense. Michael saw most of his time in center field this month, playing just 3 games in left. for a third straight month, he did not commit any errors, giving him a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in July. because he played almost all center, he had 70 putouts, the most he's had in one month this season. i'm glad he finally got to play a lot of center field so he could make more catches and add to his putout total. plus i love it when he gets to be the captain of the outfield.

Michael played in another 13.1 inning game and also a 14 inning game this month, and he finally recorded some putouts during them (because he was playing CF, obviously lol). thus, it still seems as though Chuck Hinton's major league record (zero putouts in 18 innings on June 14, 1963) is in no immediate danger of being broken.

Michael added 1 more assist to his total this month. his 10 total outfield assists are tied for 3rd most in the American League and in the major leagues, and are a career high. shout out to Jordan Bastian, who wrote a very in-depth article breaking down all 10 of Michael's assists here. but the most exhilarating thing about his 10th assist that came on the road at Dodgers Stadium on July 1? it was the first assist of a triple play, the first Michael's ever been involved in.

to sum up, Dee Gordon was on 3rd and Yasiel Puig was on 1st base when Kyle Crockett came on in relief of Justin Masterson to face Adrian Gonzalez. after 1-2 count, Gonzalez hit a fly ball to left field. Michael caught it, then threw out Gordon at home when Yan Gomes applied the tag. then Gomes caught Puig trying to go to 2nd on the play at the plate, so Gomes threw the ball to Kipnis who then got Puig out at 2nd base. but Puig was initially called safe, so Francona had to challenge the play, and the call was overturned to complete the triple play. and then Don Mattingly decided he wanted the out call at home plate challenged. but the out call stood, and at that point, the triple play was officially official. Michael was credited with the 1st assist of the triple play, as the scoring went 7-4-2. it was the first triple play completed by the Indians since April 3, 2011 against the White Sox. i have more details about this, including photos and the video, in the blog i wrote here.

when asked if he wants runners to keep testing his arm, Michael replied, "why not? i'm always up for the challenge. it helps the baseball team out if i can throw somebody out. i take great pride in it and i'm going to continue to do the best job i can each and every day."



now let's break down the numbers. i am going to document his July #s, the 3rd spot #s, the 5th spot #s, and the PH #s, as well as the left field #s, center field #s, and overall outfield #s.

July batting average: .321

OBP: .368

SLG: .500

OPS: .868


Michael played in 26 (of 26) games, 25 complete, in July. he started and played left in 3 games, completing 2 of those games. he was part of a defensive switch in 1 game, moving from left to center. he played 1 inning when moved over to center, with no official at bats. he started and played center in 22 complete games. he came in to PH in the top of the 8th inning for 1 game, and then played 1 inning in center field as part of a defensive substitution.

Michael bat 3rd in 25 games.

Michael bat 5th in 1 game. (PH)


Michael played left field in 3 games. (2 complete, 1 started: 8 innings)

Michael played center field in 24 games. (22 complete, 1 defensive switch: 1 inning, 1 defensive sub (PH): 1 inning)

Michael was the PH in 1 game.

Michael played in 25 complete games.



in July, Michael had a total of 117 plate appearances and 106 at bats. here is how he fared:

34 hits

22 singles

8 doubles

1 triple

3 home runs

13 RBI

2 sac flies

17 runs scored

9 walks

1 intentional walk

3 stolen bases

1 caught stealing

4 GIDP

8 strikeouts (5 swinging, 3 looking)

9 first at bat hits

53 total bases


35 left on base

70 putouts

1 assist

231.1 innings, 26 games

(25 complete games)

July batting average: .321 (34-106) (26 games)


now let's break down his numbers based on where he hit in the lineup.

when Michael bat 3rd in July, he had a total of 116 plate appearances and 105 at bats in 25 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

33 hits

22 singles

7 doubles

1 triple

3 home runs

13 RBI

2 sac flies

16 runs scored

9 walks

1 intentional walk

3 stolen bases

1 caught stealing

4 GIDP

8 strikeouts (5 swinging, 3 looking)

8 first at bat hits

51 total bases


35 left on base

70 putouts

1 assist

230.1 innings, 25 games

(25 complete games)

July batting average in the 3rd spot: .314 (33-105) (25 games)

overall batting average so far in the 3rd spot: .327 (98-300) (74 games) (656 innings)


when Michael bat 3rd and played left in July, he had a total of 14 plate appearances and 14 at bats in 3 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

7 hits

5 singles

1 double

1 home run

3 RBI

3 runs scored

2 first at bat hits

11 total bases


2 left on base

6 putouts

1 assist

26 innings, 3 games

(2 complete games)

July batting average in the 3rd spot while playing left: .500 (7-14) (3 games)

overall batting average so far in the 3rd spot while playing left: .354 (70-198) (50 games) (433.2 innings)

when Michael bat 3rd and played center in July, he had a total of 102 plate appearances and 91 at bats in 23 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

26 hits

17 singles

6 doubles

1 triple

2 home runs

10 RBI

2 sac flies

13 runs scored

9 walks

1 intentional walk

3 stolen bases

1 caught stealing

4 GIDP

8 strikeouts (5 swinging, 3 looking)

6 first at bat hits

40 total bases


33 left on base

64 putouts

204.1 innings, 23 games

(22 complete games)

July batting average in the 3rd spot while playing center: .286 (26-91) (23 games)
overall batting average so far in the 3rd spot while playing center: .276 (27-98) (27 games) (222.1 innings)

when Michael bat 5th in July, he had a total of 1 plate appearance and 1 at bat in 1 game. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

1 hit

1 double

1 run scored

1 first at bat hit

2 total bases


1 inning, 1 game

July batting average in the 5th spot: 1.000 (1-1) (1 game)

overall batting average in the 5th spot: .290 (20-69) (19 games) (158.2 innings)

when Michael bat 5th and played center in July, he had a total of no plate appearances and no at bats in 1 game. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

1 inning, 1 game

July batting average in the 5th spot while playing center: N/A (0-0) (1 game)
overall batting average in the 5th spot while playing center: .400 (2-5) (3 games) (14 innings)


when Michael bat 5th, he was the PH in July for 1 game. he had a total of 1 plate appearance and 1 at bat. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

1 hit

1 double

1 run scored

1 first at bat hit

2 total bases


1 game

July batting average as a PH in the 5th spot: 1.000 (1-1) (1 game)


when Michael came in to PH in July, he had a total of 1 plate appearance and 1 at bat in 1 game. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

1 hit

1 double

1 run scored

1 first at bat hit

2 total bases


1 game

July batting average as a PH: 1.000 (1-1) (1 game)
overall batting average so far as a PH: 1.000 (2-2) (2 games)

now let's break down his outfield numbers.


when Michael played the outfield in July, he had a total of 116 plate appearances and 105 at bats in 26 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

33 hits

22 singles

7 doubles

1 triple

3 home runs

13 RBI

2 sac flies

16 runs scored

9 walks

1 intentional walk

3 stolen bases

1 caught stealing

4 GIDP

8 strikeouts (5 swinging, 3 looking)

8 first at bat hits

51 total bases


35 left on base

70 putouts

1 assist

231.1 innings, 26 games

(25 complete games)

July batting average while playing the outfield: .314 (33-105) (26 games)
overall batting average so far while playing the outfield: .313 (125-399) (102 games) (900 innings)


now let's break down his numbers specific to where he played in the outfield.


when Michael played left in July, he had a total of 14 plate appearances and 14 at bats in 3 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

7 hits

5 singles

1 double

1 home run

3 RBI

3 runs scored

2 first at bat hits

11 total bases


2 left on base

6 putouts

1 assist

26 innings, 3 games

(2 complete games)

July batting average while playing left: .500 (7-14) (3 games)
overall batting average so far while playing left: .333 (91-273) (71 games) (605.1 innings)

when Michael played center in July, he had a total of 102 plate appearances and 91 at bats in 24 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:

26 hits

17 singles

6 doubles

1 triple

2 home runs

10 RBI

2 sac flies

13 runs scored

9 walks

1 intentional walk

3 stolen bases

1 caught stealing

4 GIDP

8 strikeouts (5 swinging, 3 looking)

6 first at bat hits

40 total bases

33 left on base

64 putouts

205.1 innings, 24 games

(22 complete games)

July batting average while playing center: .286 (26-91) (24 games)
overall batting average so far while playing center: .270 (34-126) (37 games) (294.2 innings)



July #s while playing left: 6 putouts, 1 assist, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (26 innings, 3 games)

overall #s so far while playing left: 102 putouts, 9 assists, 1 double play, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (605.1 innings, 71 games)

July #s while playing center: 64 putouts, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (205.1 innings, 24 games)

overall #s so far while playing center: 88 putouts, 1 assist, 1 error, 0.989 fielding percentage (294.2 innings, 37 games)

July #s while playing the outfield: 70 putouts, 1 assist, 0 errors, 1.000 fielding percentage (231.1 innings, 26 games)

overall #s so far while playing the outfield: 190 putouts, 10 assists, 1 double play, 1 error, 0.995 fielding percentage (900 innings, 102 games)



now my game-by-game numbers and notes.

Game 79/Game 1, July 1: 2-5, RBI double (first at bat), run scored, single. AVG: .316
(3rd/LF/CG9) 

^^Michael starts triple play with his 10th OF assist^^

Game 80/Game 2, July 2: 0-4, reached on fielding error (first at bat), walk, stolen base, run scored. AVG: .312
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 81/Game 3, July 4: 2-4, single, home run, run scored. AVG: .312
(3rd/LF/CG9)

Game 82/Game 4, July 5: 3-5, single (first at bat), single, run scored, RBI single. AVG: .319
(3rd/LF - 8 i, CF - 1 i/CG9)

Game 83/Game 5, July 6: 2-4, single, RBI single. AVG: .321
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 84/Game 6, July 7: 2-4, single, single. AVG: .323
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 85/Game 7, July 8: 3-4, RBI double (first at bat), RBI double, home run, run scored. AVG: .328
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 86/Game 8, July 9: 1-6, single (first at bat), run scored, walk. AVG: .325
(3rd/CF/CG14)

Game 87/Game 9, July 10: 2-4, single (first at bat), RBI sac fly, RBI single, run scored. AVG: .327
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 88/Game 10, July 11: 1-4, single, run scored. AVG: .327

(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 89/Game 11, July 12: 1-4, home run, run scored. AVG: .326
(3rd/CF/CG9)

**Michael's 9-game hitting streak and 11-game reached base streak end**

Game 90/Game 12, July 13: 0-4. AVG: .322
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 91/Game 13, July 18: 4-5, single, single, stolen base, run scored, single, double, run scored. AVG: .329
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 92/Game 14, July 19 (Day Game): 1-5, bunt single (first at bat), caught stealing. AVG: .327
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 93/Game 15, July 19 (Night Game): 2-4, double (first at bat), single, intentional walk, run scored. AVG: .329
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 94/Game 16, July 20: 0-3, walk. AVG: .326
(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 95/Game 17, July 21: 1-1, double (first at bat), run scored. AVG: .328
(5th/PH-CF – 1 i/8-GF) 

^^Michael sets new career high in runs scored with 67^^

Game 96/Game 18, July 22: 0-4, walk. AVG: .324
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 97/Game 19, July 23: 0-4. AVG: .321
(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 98/Game 20, July 24: 0-6. AVG: .316
(3rd/CF/CG13.1)

Game 99/Game 21, July 25: 1-4, single, run scored. AVG: .315
(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 100/Game 22, July 26: 2-5, RBI double, single. AVG: .316
(3rd/CF/CG8)

Game 101/Game 23, July 27: 2-4, RBI sac fly, single, run scored, double, run scored. AVG: .318
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 102/Game 24, July 29: 0-3, walk (first at bat). AVG: .316
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 103/Game 25, July 30: 0-3, walk. AVG: .313
(3rd/CF/CG9)

Game 104/Game 26, July 31: 2-3, RBI single (first at bat), triple, run scored, walk, stolen base, walk. AVG: .316
(3rd/CF/CG9)



so far in 2014, Michael has a total of 452 plate appearances and 405 at bats in 104 games (900 innings). in total, he has 128 hits, 84 singles, 27 doubles, 2 triples, 15 home runs, 66 RBI, 4 sac flies, 71 runs scored, 37 walks, 1 intentional walk, 6 hit by pitches, 12 stolen bases, 1 caught stealing, 12 GIDP, 38 strikeouts (28 swinging, 10 looking), 32 first at bat hits, 204 total bases, 146 left on base, 190 putouts, 10 assists, 1 double play, and 1 error.

2014 season batting average: .316 (128-405)

OBP: .378

SLG: .504

OPS: .882