Vote Brantley For MLB's 2016 All Star Game!

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

photo courtesy of @AllStarGame on twitter

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

in my humble opinion, Michael should not be penalized because

Tribe Spring Recap and 2016 Predictions, Thoughts, & Player Evaluations

real quick before i start: since i've begun posting excerpts of my blogs on the Baseball Bloggers Alliance website this year, i've noticed that i'm getting views from countries that i've never seen in my viewer audience before. maybe some came here from the BBA site or maybe that was just coincidence, but i am very happy to see my blog getting newfound circulation in Norway, Mexico, Slovakia, China, Hong Kong, Morocco, Ireland, Trinidad & Tobago, Syria, Spain, Australia, Japan, Israel, United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, and Luxembourg. to all those first-timers, hi! i see you all and feel quite honored to have you here! thanks so much for checking out my blog!


hey there, Tribe fans! Happy day before Indians Opening Day! baseball is just about back and that means it's time for me to recap the Tribe's spring and give my thoughts about the roster and the team's chances in 2016. so here we go!


while spring training is an important part of a baseball players' preparation, as tedious as it may be, the outcomes of the games don't always mean a whole lot. this year, in 34 games, including the two exhibition contests in Texas on April 1 and 2, the Tribe's spring record was 18-12-4, 3rd best in the Cactus League. while that looks pretty good, it could have been even better. in the early spring games, there were many times when the Tribe had the lead and then relief pitchers who weren't going to make the team--either spring training invites or minor leaguers--came into the game and then blew it. those are losses you can't be too upset about. and, like always in spring training, there were also several games that

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

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

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

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

Brantley Ranked 4th in Baseball Tonight's Top 10 Left Fielders

now that Baseball Tonight's Top 100 list is complete, it's time for them to name their annual Top 10 players at each position going into the 2016 season. once again, the way in which this was revealed differs from last year.

today, on March 25, ESPN's Baseball Tonight unveiled all of their Top 10s in one day and at the same time online. the panel of MLB writers, analysts, and contributors who ranked the Top 100 also ranked the Top 10s, and some players who didn't make the Top 100 list did make it onto their respective position lists. my blog, however, is solely going to focus on the Top 10 Left Fielders.

this year, BBTN ranked Michael as the 4th best left fielder going into 2016. last year, he was ranked as the best left fielder going into 2015. so clearly their opinion of Michael has gone down, most likely due to the shoulder injury he suffered towards the end of the season. (although, if you've been keeping up with all my Brantley update blogs, then you already know there's now a chance that Michael could open the season with the Tribe.) whatever the reason, i disagree immensely.

here is BBTN's entire Top 10 LF list, featuring both American and National League players:

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

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

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

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

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

Brantley Ranked 80th in Baseball Tonight's Top 100 Players

i wasn't expecting Baseball Tonight to start its Top 100 countdown so soon. usually, they do that over two days at the end of spring training, both online and in a TV special. now, the Top 100 reveal is taking place over 10 days, from March 15-24. every morning, a new set of 10 players, beginning with #100-91, is posted on ESPN.com. and when it's time for the Top 10 to be announced on March 24, that will occur on a special edition of Baseball Tonight at 10 pm EST on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.

much like the change in the publication of this list, the way in which it was constituted differs from last year as well. a panel of 70 ESPN experts (vs. 60 previously), including MLB writers, analysts, and contributors, was polled in February and March after being given a list of more than 350 MLB players (vs. 600 last year). these experts evaluated the players by assigning them a number from 0 to 10 based on player projections for 2016.

a year ago, Michael Brantley made his debut on this list when he ranked 43rd on BBTN's Top 100. knowing that Michael's 2015 season was not as strong as his All Star 2014 season, and knowing that projections don't take into account the fact that Michael played hurt a lot in 2015 (which consequently hindered some of his stats), i presumed Michael wouldn't top last year's rank.

so where does Michael fall on this list?

Brantley's February 2016 Shoulder Updates & Hitting Program News

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

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

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


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

Brantley Ranked 31st in MLB Network's Top 100 Players Right Now

we are very close to the first game action of Spring Training 2016. in the meantime, MLB Network has been revealing their annual list of "Top 100 Players Right Now." Greg Amsinger, Bill Ripken, and Ron Darling played hosts to counting down the Top 100 current major league baseball players going into the 2016 season. this was done in 5 one-hour episodes, announcing 20 players per show, over 3 days from February 23-25. tonight, on February 24 at 10 pm ET, the 4th segment of the 5-part series aired.

photo courtesy of @MLBNetwork on twitter

the Top 100 players list is created based on player performances from the past 3 seasons (2013-2015), with a heavy weight on the most recent. additional factors used to compile these rankings include projected player performance for 2016, defensive position, individual accolades, and the intangibles a player brings to the game (such as team leadership).

Goodbye Goon Squad (and a few others)

the non-roster invites and new player signings seem to be done, and almost everyone who's supposed to be in Goodyear with the Cleveland Indians has reported to Arizona for spring training. sadly though, unlike in years past, there are a few faces missing. normally, i write goodbye blogs for players who've been with the team for a significant amount of time and then are traded. in this case, we lost some Indians to free agency this offseason and i would like to say some formal goodbyes to them.

Tribe flashback: remember the Goon Squad? yeah, that's officially defunct now because they've all moved on/moved up. ain't nobody left. Jason Giambi ended his 2-year tour with the Tribe after 2014 (however, he will make a brief appearance in camp this week as a guest instructor); Yan Gomes got promoted from a bench guy to a starter in 2014; and Mike Aviles and Ryan Raburn were not re-signed after 2015. so the Goonies are over. c'est la vie.

okay Mike Aviles, i'm starting with you. let me get this outta the way, how could you sign with the enemy? our division rivals, the Detroit Tigers? seriously? ugh. Aviles first came to the Indians in November 2012 (with fellow Goon Squader Gomes) from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Esmil Rogers. "Handsome Mike" was

Please Sign the Petition for Bob Feller

Bob Feller has got to be the one Cleveland Indians player who i most wish i could have seen live. but alas, i was born in the wrong time. i can't even say i've had the pleasure of meeting him. but i have read a multitude of stories about our beloved Rapid Robert, and i know what an icon the man is, not only to the Indians franchise, but also to baseball as a whole.

photo courtesy of cleveland.com

therefore, i'm going to plead with you--yes you, the person reading this right now--and ask you to please sign a petition that the Cleveland Indians started to award Bob Feller the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Feller willingly put his baseball career on hold after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and became the first professional baseball player to join the U.S. Navy during World War II. his bravery and courage earned him the rank of Chief Petty Officer. after Feller returned, he refused to be recognized as a hero, stating, "i'm no hero. heroes don't come back."

if you'd like to lend your support to Feller and the Indians in this cause, here's how: