**blogger's note: it is important for
me to make it known that this year i have been going through some health issues
that i've never had to deal with before. it has been challenging, as i feel
like crap almost on a daily basis. i am going to try my hardest to get these
monthly blogs written and posted in a timely manner, but there may be times
when i just can't get them posted immediately after the month ends. i have
never been a slacker, it's just that now sometimes my health (or lack thereof)
prevents me from doing what i love. my apologies in advance should this occur at
any time this season and thank you for reading.
as my readers already know, i try to step up my Brantley documentation
every year that i do it by providing more and more game details. i've added
new colors to my color coding system in my notebook, but i don't think it's
overwhelming to everything else that i normally keep track of. on top of that,
i have a new section in my notebook dedicated to Brantley's ABs against
right-handed vs. left-handed pitching; with RISP; with RISP and 0 outs, 1 out,
and 2 outs; and with 2 outs in the inning. however, there is no way i am listing
all those statistics here in my blogs. but you can be assured that because i am
documenting those numbers daily, all of Brantley's #s here are accurate, even
without me presenting the proof. now let's get to his first official blog of
the 2014 season.
Michael's usual tendency is to start the season a little slow, and then by
the end of April he normally takes off. that pattern did not hold true in 2014.
Michael started out very well and was leading the team in almost every category
on April 24. immediately after that, we faced some tough interleague play and
unfortunately, Michael did not get one hit. that really brought his overall batting
average down, as well as the BAs of his BOPs. every out in the month(s) of
March/April takes the BA down a lot more than it would in say the month of
August or September. this is not a good time to be slumping, because it will be
a difficult hill for him to climb to get that average back up to something respectable.
however, as evidenced by some of his other numbers, he still amazingly had a
productive month. Michael wasn't the only batter who had a rough start to the
season, which explains why he still currently leads the team in some
categories. not only that, but Michael even set a few career highs for himself.
so it wasn't all bad.
it's still early right now, and even though i am disappointed in some of his
numbers, i'm not yet worried or concerned that he can't come back from this. i
believe he will get his average back up as the season continues. this could be
a season similar to his 2012, where he started out slow and gradually built his
numbers up as the year went on. Michael is just too good a hitter to keep
trending down, he's got nowhere left to go but up.
Michael had a
hit in 19 of the 27 games he played in March/April
and
reached base safely in 24 games. Michael
reached
base in 15 straight games from April 9 - April 24 as well.
he
bat .246 (15-for-61) against right-handed pitchers and
.270 (10-for-37)
against left-handed pitchers. Michael usually hits both righties and lefties about
the same, not to mention fairly well. so as the season goes on, i expect those
numbers to get closer together.
Michael
hit .310 (9-for-29) with runners in scoring position, 2nd
highest on the team, and provided the team with 17 RBI. he also hit .250 (1-for-4)
with 0 outs and runners in scoring position, .455 (5-for-11) with 1 out and
RISP, and .214 (3-for-14) with 2 outs and RISP.
with runners on base, Michael hit .326 (15-for-46) with 18 RBI. additionally, he's
batting .667 (4-for-6) with 9 RBI when the bases are loaded, which is already a BIG improvement from a year ago. he finished with a
team high 20 RBI, also a career high for March/April. his 20 RBI currently
tie him for 7th in the American League and tie for 11th overall in the league. furthermore,
Michael's batting .226 (7-for-31) with 2 outs.
a pleasant surprise this month was seeing Michael hit 4 home runs in just 7
games.
4 home runs is a team high and career high in the month of
April for him. he didn't hit his 4th home run last year until June 19! so the
fact that Michael has already hit 4 balls out of the park has many wondering if
he's finally developed power. while the long ball is a nice thing for Michael
to add to his repertoire, i certainly don't expect him to hit 24 homers this
season. and as i've said plenty of times in the past, that's okay.
besides leading the team in home runs and RBI, Michael also
leads
the team with 25 hits and 42 total bases (career high). he's tied for the team lead
with
4 stolen bases, another career high, and 13 runs scored. he's currently 4th on the team with 10
walks. out of all the regular starters, Michael has the
least amount of strikeouts with 8.
he also leads the outfielders with
3 assists, yet another career high for Michael for the month. his .255 BA is actually 2nd highest on
the team when counting only the players with at least 60 at bats for the month.
moreover, Michael is 2nd in SLG and OPS, and 3rd in OBP.
there's no denying these team rankings are very good, but something tells me
these numbers won't lead or be near the top of the club for long. the players
who are slumping now will eventually come out of it, and Michael's going to
need to make up for his mini slump from his California road trip if he wants to
continue being one of the best players on the team.
the M.O. for Michael so far this season is that he hits 5th in the
lineup against right-handed starters, and 6th against the left-handed
starters. while Bourn was on the DL, Michael played left field while batting
5th, and center field while batting 6th. conversely, Michael did play left and hit 6th against left-handed starters,
as well as play center and hit 5th against lefty starters on occasion. also while Bourn was out hurt, Michael was part of a defensive switch in one game, moving from left to center field part-way through. as Bourn slowly started playing games again, there was one game where Michael moved from center to left field so Bourn could play center for the final inning, in order to give us a better outfield defensively. when Bourn came back for good, Michael started batting 6th and playing left
field exclusively against the lefties. so it's a safe bet that Michael will now mostly be playing left
field (as long as Bourn is healthy) and teetering between the 5th and 6th spots
depending upon who's on the mound for the opposition.
i'm personally relieved that Michael seems to finally have more of a regular home in the
lineup this year. and just like last season, right now he's thriving the
most in the 5 hole. also like last season, that seems to be the best place for
him to get more RBI opportunities and rack up that total as well.
now let's talk about defense. i was aware that Michael would be seeing more
time in center field this season, but i never really anticipated that Tito
would be moving Michael from left to center and vice versa during games. one
such defensive switch came on April 2, when Michael went from left field to
center and Raburn went from PH to left field. in the 7th inning, Raburn did not
hear Michael call for a fly ball, his glove banged into Michael's, and that
resulted in neither outfielder catching the ball. to my dismay, Michael was
then charged with an error, putting an end to his franchise setting errorless
streak as an outfielder. that record now stands at 247 consecutive games, but
it could have been so many more had Raburn given way to the CF, as is the
unspoken rule in baseball. for more details about this incident, see my
previous blog
here.
aside from that unfortunate error, Michael still played stellar defense in
both left and center field. he made some spectacular catches as the center
fielder, robbing players of extra base hits. he also had
3 very nice assists. two
came
as the left fielder, one during the Indians home opener game when he
threw a runner out at the plate. the 3rd assist came while Michael was playing
center field, when he threw a runner out who was trying to go from 1st to 3rd
base. these
3 assists tie Michael for the most assists among outfielders in the
American League so far.
wherever Michael plays in the outfield, he is one of the best defensive
players on the team and undoubtedly makes our team defense better when he is
out there. he recorded 47 putouts and made some tough catches look easy. i'm so
confident in Michael that i'm going on record as saying Michael will not have
another error for the rest of the year. we shall see if my confidence in him is
warranted as the remainder of the season plays out.
now let's break down the numbers. i am going to document his March/April #s,
the 5th spot #s, and the 6th spot #s, as well as the left field #s and the center
field #s.
April batting average: .255
OBP: .327
SLG: .429
OPS: .756
Michael played in
27 (of 28)
complete games in March/April. he
started and played left in 19
games, completing 18 of those games. he
started and played center in 8 games, completing 7 of those games. he
was part of a
defensive switch in 2
games, once moving from left to center during a game and once moving from
center to left. he played
4 innings when moved over to center with 2 official
at bats. he played
1 inning when moved over to left, with no official at bats. the
one game he did not play in was just Tito giving him a day off.
Michael bat 5th in 18 games.
Michael bat 6th in 9 games.
Michael played left field in 20 games.
Michael played center field in 9 games.
in March/April, Michael had a total of
110
plate appearances and
98
at bats. here is how he fared:
25 hits
16 singles
5 doubles
4 home runs
20 RBI
1 sac fly
13 runs scored
10 walks
1 hit by pitch
4 stolen bases
3 GIDP
8 strikeouts (5 swinging, 3 looking)
5 first at bat hits
42 total bases
48 left on base
47 putouts
3 assists
1 error
234.0 innings, 27 games
(27 complete games)
March/April batting average: .255 (25-98) (27 games)
now let's break down his numbers based on where he hit in the lineup.
when Michael
bat 5th in March/April, he had a total of
75 plate appearances
and
68 at bats in
18 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:
19 hits
12 singles
4 doubles
3 home runs
18 RBI
1 sac fly
9 runs scored
5 walks
1 hit by pitch
3 stolen bases
1 GIDP
5 strikeouts (3 swinging, 2 looking)
3 first at bat hits
32 total bases
39 left on base
29 putouts
3 assists
1 error
157.2 innings, 18 games
(18 complete games)
March/April batting average in the 5th spot: .279 (19-68) (18 games)
when Michael
bat 5th and played left in March/April, he had
a total of
70 plate appearances
and
63 at bats in
17 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:
17 hits
10 singles
4 doubles
3 home runs
14 RBI
1 sac fly
8 runs scored
5 walks
1 hit by pitch
3 stolen bases
1 GIDP
5 strikeouts (3 swinging, 2 looking)
3 first at bat hits
30 total bases
38 left on base
28 putouts
2 assists
144.2 innings, 17 games
(16 complete games)
March/April batting average in the 5th spot while playing left: .270
(17-63) (17 games)
when Michael
bat 5th and played center in March/April, he
had a total of
5 plate
appearances and
5
at bats in
2 games. breaking down the numbers are
as follows:
2 hits
2 singles
4 RBI
1 run scored
2 total bases
1 left on base
1 putout
1 assist
1 error
13 innings, 2 games
(1 complete game)
March/April batting average in the 5th spot while playing center:
.400 (2-5) (2 games)
when Michael
bat 6th in March/April, he had a total of
35 plate appearances
and
30 at bats in
9 games. breaking down
the numbers are as follows:
6 hits
4 singles
1 double
1 home run
2 RBI
4 runs scored
5 walks
1 stolen base
2 GIDP
3 strikeouts (2 swinging, 1 looking)
2 first at bat hits
10 total bases
9 left on base
18 putouts
76.1 innings, 9 games
(9 complete games)
March/April batting average in the 6th spot: .200 (6-30) (9 games)
when Michael
bat 6th and played center in March/April, he
had a total of
27 plate
appearances and
23
at bats in
7 games. breaking down the numbers are
as follows:
5 hits
3 singles
1 double
1 home run
2 RBI
3 runs scored
4 walks
2 GIDP
3 strikeouts (2 swinging, 1 looking)
2 first at bat hits
9 total bases
8 left on base
16 putouts
58.1 innings, 7 games
(6 complete games)
March/April batting average in the 6th spot while playing center:
.217 (5-23) (7 games)
when Michael
bat 6th and played left in March/April, he had
a total of
8 plate appearances
and
7 at bats in
3 games. breaking down the numbers are as follows:
1 hit
1 single
1 run scored
1 walk
1 stolen base
1 total base
1 left on base
2 putouts
18 innings, 3 games
(2 complete games)
March/April batting average in the 6th spot while playing left: .143
(1-7) (3 games)
now let's break down his numbers specific to where he played in the
outfield.
when Michael
played left in March/April, he had a total of
78 plate appearances
and
70 at bats in
20 games. breaking
down the numbers are as follows:
18 hits
11 singles
4 doubles
3 home runs
14 RBI
1 sac fly
9 runs scored
6 walks
1 hit by pitch
4 stolen bases
1 GIDP
5 strikeouts (3 swinging, 2 looking)
3 first at bat hits
31 total bases
39 left on base
30 putouts
2 assists
162.2 innings, 20 games
(18 complete games)
March/April batting average while playing left: .257 (18-70) (20
games)
when Michael
played center in March/April, he had a total
of
32 plate appearances
and
28 at bats in
9 games. breaking down
the numbers are as follows:
7 hits
5 singles
1 double
1 home run
6 RBI
4 runs scored
4 walks
2 GIDP
3 strikeouts (2 swinging, 1 looking)
2 first at bat hits
11 total bases
9 left on base
17 putouts
1 assist
1 error
71.1 innings, 9 games
(7 complete games)
March/April batting average while playing center: .250 (7-28) (9
games)
March/April #s while playing left: 30 putouts, 2 assists, 0 errors,
1.000 fielding percentage (162.2 innings, 20 games)
March/April #s while playing center: 17 putouts, 1 assist, 1 error,
0.947 fielding percentage (71.1 innings, 9 games)
March/April #s while playing the outfield: 47 putouts, 3 assists, 1
error, 0.980 fielding percentage (234.0 innings, 27 games)
now my game-by-game numbers and notes.
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.
i really hope that Michael will go on a hot streak in May. i'd love to see
him string together a nice long hitting streak รก la 2012 ;D
