today, on June 26, the Cleveland Indians activated Michael Brantley from the 10-Day DL. Brandon Guyer, who's been on the 10-Day DL since May 14 with a left wrist sprain, was activated as well. in order to clear spaces on the roster for both outfielders, Daniel Robertson and Shawn Armstrong were optioned to the Triple A Columbus Clippers.
Michael has been away from the club since June 15, when his wife gave birth to their newest baby, a boy named Maxwell. he was placed on the Paternity List on June 16 and was supposed to return to the team on June 19.
well, Michael did return on June 19, in a sense. he met up with the Tribe in Baltimore, but was placed on the 10-Day DL with a right ankle sprain (backdated to June 16), which stemmed from an injury he sustained in Kansas City while playing the Royals. however, it's not completely clear if his ankle never stopped barking after the initial sprain on May 7, or if he re-injured the ankle during the early June Kansas City series. if you read my aforementioned DL blog, then you understand the confusion. not only that, but on June 23, there was some conflicting information as to
Showing posts with label injury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label injury. Show all posts
Monday, June 26, 2017
Monday, October 5, 2015
Brantley's September/October 2015 #s
hello again, Brantley fans! thank you to everyone who read my Brantley's August 2015 #s blog and Brantley's 2015 #s Through August blog. i know that the August blog was lengthy (albeit not compared to this one), but i trust you forgave me once you discovered how exciting Michael's incredible month was to read about. i also want to welcome some viewers from Sweden who recently visited my blog for the first time. i'm happy you found my blogspot and hope you continue to come back and read all about Michael!
well here we are again, at the end of another baseball season. the Indians gave it a valiant effort, but it wasn't quite enough to land a wild card spot. don't let yourself get too upset though because i will be writing a plethora of blogs throughout this month of October. so make sure you keep checking back for those, or you can simply subscribe to my emailing list (over on the right side of this page) to always be notified whenever a new post goes live! before we get to all that however, it is time for the final monthly blog of 2015.
note: i want to make it clear that September and October are combined to be 1 month. this is what all the baseball sites do when baseball season runs into October. it wouldn't make much sense to give October its own month for stats when not that many games are actually played. so whenever you see "the/this month" written in this blog, know that i am referring to (both) September/October as one even though Michael did not play in any of the October games.
September/October Overview
i don't know what happened here, guys. after Michael's August sizzle, i never saw this September fizzle coming. he just had one of the best months in his career in August and appeared to be headed for a hot finish. but as soon as the calendar flipped over to September, his bat cooled way down and it was like all the steam had been let out. maybe that last game in August (when he went 0-for-4) was a foreshadowing of things to come and i overlooked it based on how amazing he did in all his previous August games.
Michael went hitless in more games this month than any other month this season and
well here we are again, at the end of another baseball season. the Indians gave it a valiant effort, but it wasn't quite enough to land a wild card spot. don't let yourself get too upset though because i will be writing a plethora of blogs throughout this month of October. so make sure you keep checking back for those, or you can simply subscribe to my emailing list (over on the right side of this page) to always be notified whenever a new post goes live! before we get to all that however, it is time for the final monthly blog of 2015.
note: i want to make it clear that September and October are combined to be 1 month. this is what all the baseball sites do when baseball season runs into October. it wouldn't make much sense to give October its own month for stats when not that many games are actually played. so whenever you see "the/this month" written in this blog, know that i am referring to (both) September/October as one even though Michael did not play in any of the October games.
September/October Overview
i don't know what happened here, guys. after Michael's August sizzle, i never saw this September fizzle coming. he just had one of the best months in his career in August and appeared to be headed for a hot finish. but as soon as the calendar flipped over to September, his bat cooled way down and it was like all the steam had been let out. maybe that last game in August (when he went 0-for-4) was a foreshadowing of things to come and i overlooked it based on how amazing he did in all his previous August games.
Michael went hitless in more games this month than any other month this season and
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Right Shoulder Inflammation Ends Brantley's 2015 Season
this is certainly not how i expected Michael Brantley's season to end, although it is sadly fitting that he's going out much like the way he began the year--with an injury. today, on September 30, it was announced that Michael's season is done, as the Cleveland Indians are shutting him down because of his sore right shoulder.
it all started in the game against the Minnesota Twins on September 22. Aaron Hicks was at the plate facing Danny Salazar in the bottom of the 3rd inning with 2 outs and Eduardo Escobar at 1st base. after a 3-1 count, Hicks sent a line drive to deep center field. Michael ran over a long way to try and make the diving catch, but when he hit the grass, the ball popped out of his glove and rolled onto the warning track. the Twins took a 1-0 lead, and the Indians were about to lose Michael.
Michael came to bat against Ervin Santana in the top of the 4th inning and grounded out to short on an 0-1 count. then when the Indians took their places in the field in the bottom half of the inning, Michael had been subbed out defensively because during his at bat, he felt something in his right shoulder on his extension. that was literally the beginning of the end for Michael's season, though we didn't know it at the time.
he missed the next 4 games from September 23-26 before
it all started in the game against the Minnesota Twins on September 22. Aaron Hicks was at the plate facing Danny Salazar in the bottom of the 3rd inning with 2 outs and Eduardo Escobar at 1st base. after a 3-1 count, Hicks sent a line drive to deep center field. Michael ran over a long way to try and make the diving catch, but when he hit the grass, the ball popped out of his glove and rolled onto the warning track. the Twins took a 1-0 lead, and the Indians were about to lose Michael.
Michael came to bat against Ervin Santana in the top of the 4th inning and grounded out to short on an 0-1 count. then when the Indians took their places in the field in the bottom half of the inning, Michael had been subbed out defensively because during his at bat, he felt something in his right shoulder on his extension. that was literally the beginning of the end for Michael's season, though we didn't know it at the time.
he missed the next 4 games from September 23-26 before
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Brantley's 1st (Mild) Concussion
FUCK YOU John McDonald! >O
why the vitriol towards this former Indians player you ask? cause he did my boy dirty, and i don't like it. for the first time in Michael's career, he has a mild concussion. and i am pissed.
how did this happen? well i'll tell you. with 1 out in the bottom of the 3rd inning in a game against the LA Angels on June 16, Michael hit a go-ahead RBI single and was at 1st base. then when the next batter, Jason Kipnis, hit into an inning-ending double play, Michael tried to break it up when sliding into 2nd base. unfortunately for Michael, the Angels shortstop at 2nd base, John McDonald, didn't even try to avoid the collision and just kneed Michael in the fuckin head like it was nothing as he turned the double play.
that's a dick move and it's not the first time McDonald's done this. he did the same thing before to 1st baseman Justin Morneau on July 7, 2010, and Morneau's concussion was so bad that he did not return that season. the concussion also negatively impacted his playing ability for some time after that year as well. most guys who turn a dp know enough to at least try and avoid contact when a runner tries to interfere with his path. old man McDonald, who isn't even a good player and should probably just retire anyways, needs to take a Baseball 101 course again or something.
so after Michael got bonked, he just kinda sat on the infield for a bit.
then when he got up, he didn't look right.
i was "lucky" enough to have a live look-in on my computer for his RBI single and then Kip's inning-ending dp. so i saw how Michael was looking into the dugout, almost as if to say, 'did you see that? should i keep playing? should you take me out of the game?' i think if Michael had gone back into the dugout once the 3rd inning ended, he never would have gone to left field and played the top of the 4th inning. but since he was already on the field when the inning ended, his hat and glove were brought to him, as is common practice, and he trotted back out to left field. Michael even managed to record the 2nd putout of the inning. but something didn't look right about his catch. he was looking into the dugout and rubbing his eye or his head afterwards.
he probably should not have been out there in the first place and he was removed from the game before the top of the 5th started.
later on in the game it was revealed that Michael left the game with head/neck soreness. my immediate fear was concussion. after the game they said Michael passed all the initial concussion tests, but it didn't make me feel better because i knew he very well could show up to the ballpark the following day with a concussion.
on June 17, the starting lineup was released online with Michael batting 3rd. a short time later, a new lineup was released without Michael's name. it was then that i learned that while Michael was performing his pregame baseball routine, he started feeling pressure in his head and had a stiff neck, though he claimed he was feeling fine prior to this. the Indians then sent him off to Cleveland Clinic for further testing.
we did not get another Michael update until June 18, when it was finally confirmed that he did have a mild concussion. "i just didn't feel perfect (Tuesday)," Brantley said. "it's a day-by-day process. i don't want to put a deadline on anything, but my goal is to get back out there with my team as fast as possible. that involves listening to the medical staff and making sure i'm ready to go 100 percent. i'm making progress each and every day. it's all positive."
because of the progress he's making and the fact that he already played catch and hit off the tee today, they opted not to put him on the special concussion DL. Francona said, "the way it was explained to me, it's the type of concussion that should go away faster. and i think we're actually seeing that. Brantley already looks more clear-eyed. i think he's doing very well. every activity that's been given to him (Wednesday), he's handled without any occurrences of anything. there's a progression in place."
they're hoping Michael will be okay to play again on Saturday, June 21. (coincidentally, that is the next Tribe game i'm going to. so i REALLY hope he's back then.) if this happens, he would only miss a total of 3 games, which isn't that bad. but it still doesn't make me forgive McDonald.
let me tell you how angry i was with McDonald the night this all went down. i threw things, i swore (way more than i've written here lol), i tried not to cry. then i thought shit, could this have been a set up? we have no idea what goes on in players' heads and we've all seen how some athletes will play dirty to get ahead. maybe it was planned on the part of the Angels. like, the players came together in a meeting and said 'if anyone gets a chance to take out Brantley, go for it,' as a way to ensure Mike Trout wouldn't lose his starting spot on the All Star team or something. who the fuck knows. okay maybe i was reaching there but i was fuckin furious and i needed to place blame somewhere. McDonald called the "accident" unfortunate, but did he even apologize? cause i never heard anything about that. he did ask Michael if he was okay afterwards, because that's what he "tends to do," then didn't give it a second thought. but that doesn't exactly make him or the situation look better imo.
if Michael had done this purely on his own, like banged his head against the left field wall while making a catch, i'd be less upset. but the fact that it was done to him and that it was avoidable, has me fired up. Michael was killing it on the field prior to all this. the hits just kept on coming for him and his batting average kept going up every game he played. Michael had a .323 BA with 11 home runs and 46 RBI before the incident. he also had a 5 multi-hit games streak going, which McDonald abruptly ended. additionally, he had an 8-game hitting streak and a 15-game reached-base streak. if when Michael comes back on June 21 his streaks come to an end, i am gonna be fuckin infuriated.
Michael has not been on the DL since he broke his hamate bone in late July 2011. so he's gone quite a while without needing to be put on the DL for anything, which is good because it shows he's not injury prone. missing games due to a concussion, however, is still worrisome to me because i'm not sure how that will affect him. he could lose his timing and the roll he's been on. this could ultimately fuck up his entire season. as i said, he was literally on the up and up, on his way to challenging for the AL batting title, and now i fear when he comes back he'll be on a downward trend. it would have been nice to see how long Michael's multi-hits streak could have continued, but now we'll never know.
another cruel twist of fate? when Michael is scheduled to come back, he'll have 2 games under his belt before...wait for it...more goddamn interleague play. why?! ugh. that's the last thing Michael needed, to sit out a while and then have to come back and play interleague games, the one area where he's struggled this year. IL games have messed up his numbers every month this season. in April, before the IL games, he had a respectable BA. then after that dreaded San Fran series, his BA became unacceptable. and who can forget how at the end of May, Michael's overall hitting streak and franchise home game hitting streak both ended during IL play. so this is just fuckin typical that he's gotta come back and try to find his momentum again during another IL series. grrr.
i'm also concerned that Francona will put Michael back to his original 5th spot in the batting order when he comes back. i liked Michael batting 3rd when Kip was out, and was happily surprised when Francona let Michael stay there even when Kip came back from his DL stint. but now, i figure Francona will just let Kip have that spot again and Michael will go back to 5. goodbye regularity, it was fun while it lasted.
don't get me wrong, i am very grateful that nothing more serious occurred (even though a concussion is kind of serious), and that no bones were broken and he doesn't need surgery or a DL stint or anything like that. but it still agitates me that this whole thing could have been a non-issue if McDonald would have just moved out the damn way. my advice to Michael, next time someone hits into a double play, just let it happen. don't risk injury to yourself just cause the player behind you is a shit situational hitter. i don't ever wanna see this happen again.
why the vitriol towards this former Indians player you ask? cause he did my boy dirty, and i don't like it. for the first time in Michael's career, he has a mild concussion. and i am pissed.
how did this happen? well i'll tell you. with 1 out in the bottom of the 3rd inning in a game against the LA Angels on June 16, Michael hit a go-ahead RBI single and was at 1st base. then when the next batter, Jason Kipnis, hit into an inning-ending double play, Michael tried to break it up when sliding into 2nd base. unfortunately for Michael, the Angels shortstop at 2nd base, John McDonald, didn't even try to avoid the collision and just kneed Michael in the fuckin head like it was nothing as he turned the double play.
 |
| photo courtesy of The Plain Dealer |
that's a dick move and it's not the first time McDonald's done this. he did the same thing before to 1st baseman Justin Morneau on July 7, 2010, and Morneau's concussion was so bad that he did not return that season. the concussion also negatively impacted his playing ability for some time after that year as well. most guys who turn a dp know enough to at least try and avoid contact when a runner tries to interfere with his path. old man McDonald, who isn't even a good player and should probably just retire anyways, needs to take a Baseball 101 course again or something.
so after Michael got bonked, he just kinda sat on the infield for a bit.
 |
| screenshot taken from a live look-in |
then when he got up, he didn't look right.
 |
| screenshot taken from a video on Indians.com |
i was "lucky" enough to have a live look-in on my computer for his RBI single and then Kip's inning-ending dp. so i saw how Michael was looking into the dugout, almost as if to say, 'did you see that? should i keep playing? should you take me out of the game?' i think if Michael had gone back into the dugout once the 3rd inning ended, he never would have gone to left field and played the top of the 4th inning. but since he was already on the field when the inning ended, his hat and glove were brought to him, as is common practice, and he trotted back out to left field. Michael even managed to record the 2nd putout of the inning. but something didn't look right about his catch. he was looking into the dugout and rubbing his eye or his head afterwards.
 |
| series of screenshots taken from a video on Indians.com |
he probably should not have been out there in the first place and he was removed from the game before the top of the 5th started.
later on in the game it was revealed that Michael left the game with head/neck soreness. my immediate fear was concussion. after the game they said Michael passed all the initial concussion tests, but it didn't make me feel better because i knew he very well could show up to the ballpark the following day with a concussion.
on June 17, the starting lineup was released online with Michael batting 3rd. a short time later, a new lineup was released without Michael's name. it was then that i learned that while Michael was performing his pregame baseball routine, he started feeling pressure in his head and had a stiff neck, though he claimed he was feeling fine prior to this. the Indians then sent him off to Cleveland Clinic for further testing.
we did not get another Michael update until June 18, when it was finally confirmed that he did have a mild concussion. "i just didn't feel perfect (Tuesday)," Brantley said. "it's a day-by-day process. i don't want to put a deadline on anything, but my goal is to get back out there with my team as fast as possible. that involves listening to the medical staff and making sure i'm ready to go 100 percent. i'm making progress each and every day. it's all positive."
because of the progress he's making and the fact that he already played catch and hit off the tee today, they opted not to put him on the special concussion DL. Francona said, "the way it was explained to me, it's the type of concussion that should go away faster. and i think we're actually seeing that. Brantley already looks more clear-eyed. i think he's doing very well. every activity that's been given to him (Wednesday), he's handled without any occurrences of anything. there's a progression in place."
they're hoping Michael will be okay to play again on Saturday, June 21. (coincidentally, that is the next Tribe game i'm going to. so i REALLY hope he's back then.) if this happens, he would only miss a total of 3 games, which isn't that bad. but it still doesn't make me forgive McDonald.
let me tell you how angry i was with McDonald the night this all went down. i threw things, i swore (way more than i've written here lol), i tried not to cry. then i thought shit, could this have been a set up? we have no idea what goes on in players' heads and we've all seen how some athletes will play dirty to get ahead. maybe it was planned on the part of the Angels. like, the players came together in a meeting and said 'if anyone gets a chance to take out Brantley, go for it,' as a way to ensure Mike Trout wouldn't lose his starting spot on the All Star team or something. who the fuck knows. okay maybe i was reaching there but i was fuckin furious and i needed to place blame somewhere. McDonald called the "accident" unfortunate, but did he even apologize? cause i never heard anything about that. he did ask Michael if he was okay afterwards, because that's what he "tends to do," then didn't give it a second thought. but that doesn't exactly make him or the situation look better imo.
if Michael had done this purely on his own, like banged his head against the left field wall while making a catch, i'd be less upset. but the fact that it was done to him and that it was avoidable, has me fired up. Michael was killing it on the field prior to all this. the hits just kept on coming for him and his batting average kept going up every game he played. Michael had a .323 BA with 11 home runs and 46 RBI before the incident. he also had a 5 multi-hit games streak going, which McDonald abruptly ended. additionally, he had an 8-game hitting streak and a 15-game reached-base streak. if when Michael comes back on June 21 his streaks come to an end, i am gonna be fuckin infuriated.
Michael has not been on the DL since he broke his hamate bone in late July 2011. so he's gone quite a while without needing to be put on the DL for anything, which is good because it shows he's not injury prone. missing games due to a concussion, however, is still worrisome to me because i'm not sure how that will affect him. he could lose his timing and the roll he's been on. this could ultimately fuck up his entire season. as i said, he was literally on the up and up, on his way to challenging for the AL batting title, and now i fear when he comes back he'll be on a downward trend. it would have been nice to see how long Michael's multi-hits streak could have continued, but now we'll never know.
another cruel twist of fate? when Michael is scheduled to come back, he'll have 2 games under his belt before...wait for it...more goddamn interleague play. why?! ugh. that's the last thing Michael needed, to sit out a while and then have to come back and play interleague games, the one area where he's struggled this year. IL games have messed up his numbers every month this season. in April, before the IL games, he had a respectable BA. then after that dreaded San Fran series, his BA became unacceptable. and who can forget how at the end of May, Michael's overall hitting streak and franchise home game hitting streak both ended during IL play. so this is just fuckin typical that he's gotta come back and try to find his momentum again during another IL series. grrr.
i'm also concerned that Francona will put Michael back to his original 5th spot in the batting order when he comes back. i liked Michael batting 3rd when Kip was out, and was happily surprised when Francona let Michael stay there even when Kip came back from his DL stint. but now, i figure Francona will just let Kip have that spot again and Michael will go back to 5. goodbye regularity, it was fun while it lasted.
don't get me wrong, i am very grateful that nothing more serious occurred (even though a concussion is kind of serious), and that no bones were broken and he doesn't need surgery or a DL stint or anything like that. but it still agitates me that this whole thing could have been a non-issue if McDonald would have just moved out the damn way. my advice to Michael, next time someone hits into a double play, just let it happen. don't risk injury to yourself just cause the player behind you is a shit situational hitter. i don't ever wanna see this happen again.
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