Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Brantley Acquires 500th Career RBI!

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

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

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

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Brantley's 2018 #s Through June (+ All Star Ballot Results)

hey, Brantley fans! so we're already halfway through the season in terms of both games--81 down, 81 to go--and months. the year is just flying by. luckily, i've been keeping busy with my blog work in an attempt to distract myself from the reality that there are only three months left in the Michael Brantley Era in Cleveland... the tears will be coming, but for now, i'm trying to enjoy every day that he's still playing in a Tribe uniform.πŸ˜”

to recap Michael's season thus far, he had a very hot start to 2018, but has since cooled off. if you read through my Brantley's June 2018 #s blog, then you know he struggled in just about every facet of the game. it was very disheartening to see Michael go from batting .366 (30-for-82) during his 19-game hitting streak in May, to batting .243 (25-for-103) over his next 26 games, including nine 0-fers, since then. however, because he excelled so much in both March/April and May, the majority of his overall numbers and situational statistics remain strong.

another big positive is, he's been healthy. not only that, but the extra off days Terry Francona was giving Michael in the beginning of the campaign are no longer necessary. i think we can officially stop worrying about his ankle now (knock on woodπŸ‘Š). and here's hoping that the new calendar month will bring Michael back to the high level of performance that we're used to and he's capable of.

this post contains Michael's

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Brantley's June 2018 #s

hello, Brantley fans! i'm back with another monthly blog. thank you for reading my previous Brantley's May 2018 #s blog and Brantley's 2018 # Through May blog. i know there was A LOT going on in Michael's May, so i hope you enjoyed all the content i provided spotlighting everything.✍

i didn't see any new viewer countries on my blog this month, but that's okay because heavy traffic continues to come through from some certain regulars.πŸ˜‰ in June, the United States, Germany, and ItalyπŸ₯‡πŸ₯ˆπŸ₯‰ represented my top 3 visitors, specifically (with France, Brazil, and Spain very close behind!). thanks to all of you in those locations for stopping by and checking out my posts.πŸ‘ let know know you were here by leaving a comment! and if you aren't from one of the places listed, feel free to shout out your country in the comments, too.🌎 i'm sure my top audience will change over the course of the next month again, so be sure to come back at the end of July to find out which areas are reading about Brant the most! as always, you can share my posts on social media to increase your chances of being in the top and then recognized here.πŸ‘

reminder: if you haven't voted for Michael to go to the 2018 All Star Game yet, you've still got six days to cast 25 ballots.πŸ—Ή please help Brant get to his third career Midsummer Classic, and final as a Cleveland Indian.πŸ™ click here for details, tips, and tricks!

now let's get into Michael's June!

Saturday, June 23, 2018

Brantley's Career High 24-Game On-Base Streak at Home!

hi, Brantley fans! i've got a quickie little blog for you today because this evening, on June 23, Michael set a new career high when he got on base in the game versus the Chicago White Sox, giving him a 24-game on-base streak at home! congratulations, Dr. Smooth!πŸ‘

the record materialized in his first plate appearance during the bottom of the 1st inning with Francisco Lindor at 1st base, no outs, and no score. left-handed pitcher Francisco Liriano, having just been activated from the disabled list, was on the mound for the White Sox and after a 3-1 count, Michael drew a walk. the pitch sequence went: ball,

Friday, June 1, 2018

Brantley's 2018 #s Through May

hey, all! two months of Michael Brantley's final year with the Tribe have already passed, can you believe it?!πŸ˜” the season is going by fast, but Michael is making every second of it fun to watch.😎

so this is the second blog of the two that you can expect from me at the end of every month and it includes Michael's overall numbers for the 2018 campaign so far. this specific post covers March 29 through May 31. if you're not that concerned with stats per month and just want to know Michael's total numbers to this point in the year without all the extra detailed information that i provide in my monthlies, then this is the blog for you.

in this and all my future 2018 #s Through... posts, you will find the following sections:
--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
--streaks and situational statistics
--#s versus AL Central Division teams
--Interleague play #s
--league rankings

Vote Brantley for MLB's 2018 All Star Game!

hello, Michael Brantley fans! get ready to input those captcha codes because it's time to once again vote for your 2018 MLB All Stars!⭐ the location for this year's game is Washington, D.C.!

photo courtesy of mlb.com

Michael has been an All Star twice now in his career. he was initially chosen to be an OF reserve for the American League team in 2014, marking his very first Midsummer Classic experience. Michael was also selected to the ASG a second time by his peers as an AL outfield reserve player last season. this is Michael's walk-year, meaning he will be a free agent at the end of 2018 and it's presumed that he won't be returning to the Tribe. so

Brantley's May 2018 #s

what's up, Brantley fans? thank you all who read my Brantley's March/April 2018 #s blog. it was a long one, but i hope you found it informative and worth your time.πŸ˜€

i also want to thank and welcome my new viewers from Cameroon! hi!πŸ‘‹ i'm honored that you found my site and it's great to see Michael has fans all the way in Central Africa!πŸ‘Œ throughout the duration of this month, my site saw the most visitors from Russia, the United States, and Germany (in that order). props to all of you in those countries for keeping up with all the news about Dr. Smooth and i appreciate all of your clicks.πŸ‘ leave a comment below and let me know you were here. then check back next month to see if there were any changes in where my largest audience is coming from. feel free to share my posts to better your chances of being in the Top 3!πŸ₯‡πŸ₯ˆπŸ₯‰

as i stated in my previously monthly blog, you're going to get two posts from me filled with numbers and statistics at the end of every month now. this one focuses on May and May alone. the upcoming second post will contain Michael's overall numbers and stats so far for 2018 and will be linked at the bottom of this blog once i finish it.

and if you haven't heard, 2018 MLB All Star Game voting begins

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Brantley's First Career Grand Slam!!!

there was one really big benchmark that Michael Brantley hadn't yet achieved in his Major League career. i've been waiting for it patiently and tonight, on May 1, 2018, during his 10th big league season, it happened--Michael finally hit his first career grand slam!😁

photo courtesy of Tony Dejak via Associated Press

let me set the scene. the Indians were playing the Texas Rangers at Progressive Field. Michael came to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning with 2 outs and the Tribe down, 6-2. he stepped into the batter's box to face right-handed closer Keone Kela with the bases loaded--Bradley Zimmer at 3rd, Francisco Lindor at 2nd, and Jason Kipnis at 1st. after an 0-2 count, Michael

Monday, April 30, 2018

Brantley's March/April 2018 #s

hi, Brantley fans! i'm back with the first monthly blog of the 2018 regular season!πŸ“… as i left off in my previous post, Michael Brantley was activated from the disabled list on April 6 after opening the year on the 10-Day DL. despite his time in extended spring, Michael received additional days off in April in an effort to make sure the left fielder didn't overexert himself as he continued to get back to playing on a regular basis again. (btw, if you haven't read my two Brantley's Cactus League 2018 Rehab blog posts, i will link them here: Rehab Details and Rehab #s. if you did already read them, thank you so much!πŸ€—)

the team's caution seems to be working because so far, Michael's ankle has been holding up well and he repeatedly says he feels great. (we can't ask for more than that, right?) the DL stint and extra time off, however, resulted in Michael only playing in two-thirds of the games this month. nevertheless, there's a lot of things to discuss and i'm going to get into it all for you shortly. but first, i need to go over some important information.

ordinarily, i like to acknowledge viewers from countries who've never visited my blog before in my intro. well, i didn't see any new countries in my audience over the past month. my readers come from many different places all around the world and at this point, i think it will be a surprise if any newbies pop up here going forward. (i'd love it if they did though!) so instead, when no new views appear, i'm going to shout out the Top 3 countries to view my blog. in April, those include

Friday, April 6, 2018

Brantley Activated from 10-Day DL, Extended Spring Rehab Details (March 28 - April 6)

who's ready for the Indians' Home Opener? Dr. Smooth is!πŸ‘‹ today, on April 6, the Cleveland Indians activated Michael Brantley from the 10-Day DL prior to the game versus the Kansas City Royals! Tyler Naquin was optioned to the Triple A Columbus Clippers in a corresponding roster move. Michael is in the starting lineup, despite the cold, wintry mix of weather conditions expected this afternoon, batting 5th and playing in left field.

after staying back in Arizona to play in extended spring training with minor leaguers and the rookie league kids in order to continue building up endurance, Michael is now set to begin his 2018 campaign with the Tribe! or, more specifically, his last campaign with the Tribe.😞 yes, that is correct. this is most likely going to be the final year that Indians fans have to witness the amazingness that is Michael while he's still a member of the Indians. following this brief delay to the start of his regular season, it is now officially the beginning of the end of an era--the Michael Brantley Era in Cleveland. trust and believe, the tears will be flowing hard from me; i just hope i can hold out until October.😭 but i digress.

over the past 11 months, Michael has endured quite a bit in regard to his ankle. the initial onset of pain occurred