Biographical

Michael Brantley LFAstros

Astros Player Cards | Astros Team Audit | Astros Depth Chart

2019 Projections (Preseason PECOTA - seasonal age 32)

PA	AVG	HR	R	RBI	SB	DRC+	WARP
Login or Subscribe today for access to projections!

Birth Date	5-15-1987
Height	6' 2"
Weight	209 lbs

Age	36 years, 11 months, 11 days
Bats	L
Throws	L

: 3.32015
: 0.12016
: 1.72017
: 2.82018
: 2.22019
proj

WARP Summary

Show All
Stats Only
Transactions
More PECOTA
Splits
Book Comments
Pitch f/x
Articles

MLB Statistics

YEAR	TEAM	AGE	G	PA	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	HBP	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	DRC+	DRAA	BRR	FRAA	BWARP
2009	CLE	22	28	121	35	4	0	0	8	19	0	4	4	.313	.358	.348	93	-0.8	-0.9	-2.6	-0.1
2010	CLE	23	72	325	73	9	3	3	22	38	0	10	2	.246	.296	.327	77	-8.0	3.5	-5.0	0.0
2011	CLE	24	114	496	120	24	4	7	34	76	3	13	5	.266	.318	.384	90	-4.8	0.5	-2.7	0.6
2012	CLE	25	149	609	159	37	4	6	53	56	0	12	9	.288	.348	.402	106	4.6	2.7	-13.0	1.3
2013	CLE	26	151	611	158	26	3	10	40	67	4	17	4	.284	.332	.396	101	1.6	2.4	4.3	2.2
2014	CLE	27	156	676	200	45	2	20	52	56	8	23	1	.327	.385	.506	147	34.1	5.1	-2.2	5.7
2015	CLE	28	137	596	164	45	0	15	60	51	2	15	1	.310	.379	.480	128	21.8	-3.2	-0.3	3.3
2016	CLE	29	11	43	9	2	0	0	3	6	0	1	0	.231	.279	.282	87	-0.6	0.4	0.3	0.1
2017	CLE	30	90	375	101	20	1	9	31	50	2	11	1	.299	.357	.444	106	3.8	-0.6	5.2	1.7
2018	CLE	31	143	631	176	36	2	17	48	60	5	12	3	.309	.364	.468	118	15.7	1.4	-3.4	2.8
2019	HOU	32	148	637	179	40	2	22	51	66	7	3	2	.311	.372	.503	122	20.9	0.0	-8.2	2.5
Career			1199	5120	1374	288	21	109	402	545	31	121	32	.297	.354	.439	113	88.3	11.3	-27.5	20.1

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.

YEAR	Team	Lg	LG	G	PA	oppAVG	oppOBP	oppSLG	BABIP	BPF	BRAA	repLVL	POS_ADJ	DRC+	DRC+ SD	FRAA	BRR	DRAA	BWARP
2005	HEL	Rk	PIO	10	40	.287	.374	.438	.367	105	1.6	0.8	-0.1	109	0	-0.5	-0.1	0.6	0.1
2006	WVA	A	SAL	108	435	.258	.336	.380	.344	110	15	10.1	-2.2	134	0	-9.7	-0.1	8.4	0.7
2007	WVA	A	SAL	56	255	.271	.345	.415	.364	111	12.4	7.6	-3.8	138	0	0.6	0.3	12.0	1.7
2007	HUN	AA	SOU	59	223	.263	.336	.399	.281	95	-1.9	7.5	-1.8	93	0	1.4	2.3	-1.0	0.9
2008	HUN	AA	SOU	106	479	.271	.347	.406	.332	108	7.6	14.1	-1.8	117	0	9.2	2.8	4.5	2.9
2009	CLE	MLB	AL	28	121	.263	.328	.415	.376	102	-2.1	3.5	0	93	16	-2.6	-0.9	-0.8	-0.1
2009	COH	AAA	INT	116	528	.262	.331	.391	.282	114	-8.8	15.4	0.5	102	0	-0.2	4.1	2.2	2.1
2010	CLE	MLB	AL	72	325	.261	.325	.410	.271	106	-12.6	9.0	0.6	77	10	-5.0	3.5	-8.0	0.0
2010	COH	AAA	INT	67	316	.265	.335	.415	.337	111	5.1	9.6	-0.2	126	0	7.5	4.3	9.5	2.9
2011	CLE	MLB	AL	114	496	.257	.320	.402	.303	101	-5	13.4	-1.3	90	9	-2.7	0.5	-4.8	0.6
2012	CLE	MLB	AL	149	609	.254	.317	.406	.310	99	7	16.7	1.3	106	7	-13.0	2.7	4.6	1.3
2013	CLE	MLB	AL	151	611	.254	.315	.399	.304	100	4	16.1	-3.8	101	9	4.3	2.4	1.6	2.2
2014	CLE	MLB	AL	156	676	.257	.318	.397	.333	103	39.8	17.4	-3	147	7	-2.2	5.1	34.1	5.7
2015	CLE	MLB	AL	137	596	.254	.315	.403	.318	108	18.4	16.1	-3.7	128	8	-0.3	-3.2	21.8	3.3
2016	CLE	MLB	AL	11	43	.268	.328	.449	.265	110	-2.3	1.2	-0.3	87	10	0.3	0.4	-0.6	0.1
2016	LKC	A	MID	1	3	.233	.289	.329	.667	100	1	0.1	0	162	0	-0.1	0.0	0.2	0.0
2016	MHV	A-	NYP	1	3	.250	.340	.350	.500	100	0.6	0.1	0	121	0	0.0	-0.2	0.0	0.0
2016	AKR	AA	EAS	6	21	.282	.335	.436	.222	98	-0.3	0.6	-0.1	84	0	1.0	-0.2	-0.7	0.1
2016	COH	AAA	INT	3	11	.270	.345	.480	.111	116	-0.8	0.3	-0.1	68	0	-0.9	0.2	-0.5	-0.1
2017	CLE	MLB	AL	90	375	.259	.326	.431	.325	104	6.8	11.0	-2.7	106	11	5.2	-0.6	3.8	1.7
2018	CLE	MLB	AL	143	631	.255	.327	.421	.319	106	16.8	17.7	-4.6	118	6	-3.4	1.4	15.7	2.8
2019	HOU	MLB	AL	148	637	.257	.326	.446	.320	102	23.6	19.2	-6	122	6	-8.2	0.0	20.9	2.5

Statistics For All Levels

Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.

Year	Team	lvl	LG	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	TB	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	ISO	SF	SH
2005	HEL	Rk	PIO	40	34	8	11	2	0	0	13	3	6	4	2	0	.324	.425	.382	.059	0	0
2006	WVA	A	SAL	435	360	47	108	10	2	0	122	42	61	51	24	7	.300	.402	.339	.039	5	5
2007	HUN	AA	SOU	223	187	28	47	6	1	0	55	21	29	25	17	3	.251	.347	.294	.043	5	5
2007	WVA	A	SAL	255	218	41	73	15	1	2	96	32	31	22	18	6	.335	.418	.440	.106	1	1
2008	HUN	AA	SOU	479	420	80	134	17	2	4	167	40	50	27	28	8	.319	.394	.398	.079	3	3
2009	CLE	MLB	AL	121	112	10	35	4	0	0	39	11	8	19	4	4	.313	.358	.348	.036	0	1
2009	COH	AAA	INT	528	457	80	122	21	2	6	165	37	59	48	46	5	.267	.347	.361	.094	8	8
2010	COH	AAA	INT	316	273	54	87	13	2	4	116	29	34	28	13	5	.319	.392	.425	.106	5	5
2010	CLE	MLB	AL	325	297	38	73	9	3	3	97	22	22	38	10	2	.246	.296	.327	.081	2	4
2011	CLE	MLB	AL	496	451	63	120	24	4	7	173	46	34	76	13	5	.266	.318	.384	.118	5	3
2012	CLE	MLB	AL	609	552	63	159	37	4	6	222	60	53	56	12	9	.288	.348	.402	.114	4	0
2013	CLE	MLB	AL	611	556	66	158	26	3	10	220	73	40	67	17	4	.284	.332	.396	.112	8	3
2014	CLE	MLB	AL	676	611	94	200	45	2	20	309	97	52	56	23	1	.327	.385	.506	.178	5
2015	CLE	MLB	AL	596	529	68	164	45	0	15	254	84	60	51	15	1	.310	.379	.480	.170	5	0
2016	LKC	A	MID	3	3	0	2	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	.667	.667	1.000	.333	0	0
2016	MHV	A-	NYP	3	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	.500	.667	.500	.000	0	0
2016	CLE	MLB	AL	43	39	5	9	2	0	0	11	7	3	6	1	0	.231	.279	.282	.051	1	0
2016	COH	AAA	INT	11	9	2	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	1	0	0	.111	.182	.222	.111	1	0
2016	AKR	AA	EAS	21	19	1	4	1	0	0	5	1	2	1	0	0	.211	.286	.263	.053	0	0
2017	CLE	MLB	AL	375	338	47	101	20	1	9	150	52	31	50	11	1	.299	.357	.444	.145	4	0
2018	CLE	MLB	AL	631	570	89	176	36	2	17	267	76	48	60	12	3	.309	.364	.468	.160	6	1
2019	HOU	MLB	AL	637	575	88	179	40	2	22	289	90	51	66	3	2	.311	.372	.503	.191	4	0

Plate Discipline

YEAR	Pits	Zone%	Swing%	Contact%	Z-Swing%	O-Swing%	Z-Contact%	O-Contact%	SwStr%	CSAA
2009	488	0.5738	0.3340	0.9141	0.4429	0.1875	0.9516	0.7949	0.0859	0.0087
2010	1307	0.5471	0.3634	0.9095	0.4811	0.2213	0.9506	0.8015	0.0905	0.0101
2011	1913	0.5337	0.3753	0.8858	0.4995	0.2332	0.9373	0.7596	0.1142	0.0054
2012	2118	0.5316	0.4032	0.9145	0.5693	0.2147	0.9641	0.7653	0.0855	0.0067
2013	2239	0.5123	0.4145	0.8998	0.5937	0.2262	0.9427	0.7814	0.1002	0.0113
2014	2377	0.5011	0.4148	0.8996	0.5911	0.2378	0.9489	0.7766	0.1004	0.0016
2015	2117	0.4979	0.4265	0.9125	0.6129	0.2418	0.9505	0.8171	0.0875	-0.0003
2016	166	0.5602	0.4639	0.8961	0.6022	0.2877	0.9643	0.7143	0.1039	0.0000
2017	1377	0.4946	0.4408	0.8715	0.6211	0.2644	0.9409	0.7120	0.1285	0.0000
2018	2249	0.4855	0.4406	0.8880	0.6218	0.2697	0.9588	0.7340	0.1120	0.0000
2019	2267	0.4993	0.4358	0.8897	0.5989	0.2731	0.9469	0.7645	0.1103	0.0000
Career	18618	0.5120	0.4130	0.8977	0.5774	0.2418	0.9496	0.7690	0.1023	0.0038

Injury History — No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On	Date Off	Transaction	Days	Games	Side	Body Part	Injury	Severity	Surgery Date	Reaggravation
2014-06-17	2014-06-20	DTD	3	2	-	Head	Concussion	Player Collision Sliding Into Second Base	-
2014-05-15	2014-05-16	DTD	1	1	-	Back	Tightness		-	-
2013-02-26	2013-03-10	Camp	12	0	-	Forearm	Laceration	Sliding	-	-
2012-10-11	2012-10-11	Off	0	0	-		Surgery	Sports Hernia	2012-10-11	-
2012-09-24	2012-09-29	DTD	5	4	Left	Groin	Strain		-	-
2012-09-13	2012-09-15	DTD	2	2	Left	Chest	Soreness	Pectoral Muscle	-	-
2012-04-24	2012-04-24	DTD	0	0	Right	Wrist	Soreness		-	-
2012-03-20	2012-03-27	Camp	7	0	-	Thigh	Tightness	Hamstring	-	-
2011-08-23	2011-09-29	60-DL	37	38	Right	Wrist	Surgery	Hamate	2011-08-31
2011-08-13	2011-08-16	DTD	3	1	Right	Wrist	Soreness		-
2011-08-10	2011-08-12	DTD	2	2	Right	Wrist	Soreness		-
2011-08-03	2011-08-05	DTD	2	2	Right	Wrist	Soreness	Bothering for 1 Week	-	-
2011-07-19	2011-07-22	DTD	3	2	-	General Medical	Heat Illness	Heat Exhaustion	-	-
2011-06-22	2011-06-24	DTD	2	1	Left	Shoulder	Soreness		-
2011-03-04	2011-03-08	Camp	4	0	Right	Knee	Soreness		-
2010-09-23	2010-09-26	DTD	3	3	Left	Thigh	Soreness	Hamstring	-
2010-08-20	2010-08-25	DTD	5	4	Left	Ankle	Sprain		-
2010-03-22	2010-03-25	Camp	3	0	Right	Ankle	Sprain		-
2009-09-27	2009-09-30	DTD	3	2	Right	Ankle	Soreness		-
2006-05-03	2006-05-13	Minors	10	0	Right	Shoulder	Strain		-	-

Compensation

Year	Team	Salary
2023	HOU	$12,000,000
2022	HOU	$16,000,000
2021	HOU	$16,000,000
2020	HOU	$16,000,000
2019	HOU	$16,000,000
2018	CLE	$11,500,000
2017	CLE	$8,375,000
2016	CLE	$7,375,000
2015	CLE	$5,875,000
2014	CLE	$2,375,000
2013	CLE	$526,900
2012	CLE	$495,300
2011	CLE	$421,800
2010	CLE	$400,800

Years	Description	Salary
14 yr	Previous	$113,344,800
14 yr	Total	$113,344,800

Service Time	Agent	Contract Status
13 y 131 d	Excel	1 year/$12M (2023)

Details

1 year/$12M (2023). Re-signed by Houston as a free agent 12/18/22. Performance bonuses based on plate appearances: $500,000 each for 400, 425 PAs. $750,000 each for 450, 475, 500, 525 PAs. Award bonus: $200,000 for MVP. Retired 1/5/24.
2 years/$32M (2021-22). Re-signed by Houston as a free agent 1/21/21.
2 years/$32M (2019-20). Signed by Houston as a free agent 12/18/18. $2M signing bonus, paid 3/15/19. 19:$15M, 20:$15M. Award bonuses, including top 5 in MVP vote, WS MVP, LCS MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, All Star.
4 years/$25M (2014-17), plus 2018 club option. Signed extension with Cleveland 2/10/14 (avoided arbitration, $3.8M-$2.7M). $3.5M signing bonus. 14:$1.5M, 15:$5M, 16:$6.5M, 17:$7.5M, 18:$11M club option ($1M buyout). 2017 salary increases by $1M with 1-5 finish in 2014-16 MVP vote or by $0.5M for 6-10 finish in 2014-16 MVP vote. 2018 option increases by $1M with 1-5 finish in 2014-17 MVP vote or by $0.5M with 6-10 finish in 2014-17 MVP vote. Award bonuses, including $0.1M for All Star. Cleveland exercised 2018 option at $11.5M 11/3/17.
1 year/$526,900 (2013). Re-signed by Cleveland 3/7/13.
1 year/$495,300 (2012). Re-signed by Cleveland 3/3/12.
1 year/$421,800 (2011). Re-signed by Cleveland 3/8/11.
1 year/$400,800 (2010). Re-signed by Cleveland 3/10/10. Optioned to Triple-A 4/19/10.
1 year (2009). Acquired by Cleveland in trade from Milwaukee 10/08 (player to be named in 7/08 Sabathia deal). Contract selected by Cleveland 9/1/09.
Drafted by Milwaukee 2005 (7-205) (Ft. Pierce Central HS., Fla.). $150,000 signing bonus.

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT	PA	H	2B	HR	BB	SO	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	DRC+	VORP	FRAA
90^o	39	10	2	1	3	6	1	.286	.342	.429	118	2.4	LF 0,
80^o	27	7	1	1	2	4	1	.292	.346	.458	113	1.4	LF 0,
70^o	18	4	1	0	1	3	0	.250	.294	.312	110	0.8	LF 0,
60^o	10	3	1	0	1	1	0	.333	.400	.444	107	0.4	LF 0,
50^o	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.333	.333	104	0.1	LF 0,
Weighted Mean	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	.333	.333	.333	104	0.1	LF 0,

The rest of this card is restricted to Baseball Prospectus Subscribers.

Not a subscriber? Click here for a free card so you can see what's missing.

Click here for more information on Baseball Prospectus subscriptions or to subscribe and get instant access to the best baseball content on the web.

BP Annual Player Comments

The rest of this card is restricted to Baseball Prospectus Subscribers.

Not a subscriber? Click here for a free card so you can see what's missing.

Click here for more information on Baseball Prospectus subscriptions or to subscribe and get instant access to the best baseball content on the web.

BP Articles

Click here to see articles tagged with Michael Brantley

BP Chats

Date	Question	Answer
2019-05-10 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Is Dwight Smith a poor man's Michael Brantley? (Sam from Logan Square)	Brantley is an elite elite contact guy that swings and misses less than four percent of the time. Smith is at like 3x that number. Smith is an interesting power/speed guy, but I'm not sure I see the Brantley comp. (Mark Barry)
2017-02-21 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Who are your biggest injury concerns heading into the season? (Daniel from Queens, NY)	That's a great question! Obviously, Michael Brantley. We have no idea what's going to happen there. Albert Pujols coming off foot surgery is a huge one for me too, especially at his age. Victor Martinez knees are always terrifying. Oh, and pitchers...All of them... (George Bissell)
2016-12-15 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Do you think Michael Brantley will be healthy for the start of the season and do you think his stats will return to form for 2017 season? (Benny from Toronto)	I think he'll be healthy, with a slight dip. He's still young enough that he can recover from these woes. (Kenny Ducey)
2016-09-26 20:00:00 (link to chat)	12 team keeper league, where we roster all 8 defensive positions, 2 utility, and 8 SPs. There aren't any weird contracts or scoring rules either. I need 10 keepers. My locks are Rizzo, Stanton, JD Martinez, Todd Frazier, Darvish, Scherzer, & Sale. I'm left to pick 3 of Lucroy, Jose Abreu, Byron Buxton, Stroman, Justin Upton, Dahl, Michael Brantley & Alex Reyes. Not easy to pick 3 out of that, huh? Take a shot! Thanks again! (BPchatsChangedMyLife from Niagara, ON)	I'd try to package 3-5 of those extra guys for 1 no-doubt keeper, then try to do it again with the rest of that pack of extra guys. There's gotta be some teams in your league who have a stuff or two but only 5-7 legitimate keepers that might be willing to trade one big name player for depth, right? Try to do something with the value locked in those keepable players rather than just let that value evaporate when you submit your freeze list and send several of them back into the free agent poo; And be agnostic about which of that group of players you trade - don't fall in love with your guys. (Scooter Hotz)
2015-07-30 13:00:00 (link to chat)	PECOTA loves Astros OF prospect Jason Martin, he's having a great year at 19 in the MWL, and he has some prospect pedigree as a HS draftee in 2013. And yet, he's never mentioned in any conversation about Astros prospects. What gives? (TexasDeac10 from Houston)	Well, PECOTA like him because Andrew McCutchen and Michael Brantley are two of his top 3 comps right now, and that's going to give you a rosy projection. I'm honestly not familiar with him as a prospect, pre-draft anyway, so I'm not sure what the consensus on him was. The reality is that HS guys take such a long road to the show that he might need to perform like this for a season or two before he starts getting more recognition. (Jeff Long)
2015-06-10 14:00:00 (link to chat)	Bigger regret:Lo Cain or Michael Brantley? (Nathaniel from WI)	I don't think the Brewers regret moving either player, as they have Carlos Gomez and two postseason appearances in return for trading them. Still, Michael Brantley hurt the most at the time. He's such a quality hitter. (J.P. Breen)
2015-05-26 19:00:00 (link to chat)	so i have seen you and that one guy from that one site (half-hartedly) discussing a Kershaw trade. what is (are) the biggest trade(s) that have gone down in a Tout or Labr league? (jonraypyle from tx)	It's really hard to trade in expert leagues, in part because nobody wants to be seen as losing on a deal. I traded Hanley Ramirez in 2013 for two starting pitchers. Fred Zinkie of MLB is the big wheeler dealer in LABR, and he made a big deal this year where he traded Andrew McCutchen, Stephen Strasburg, Asdrubal Cabrera and R.A. Dickey for Michael Brantley and Madison Bumgarner. (Mike Gianella)
2015-04-16 17:00:00 (link to chat)	Concerned about Michael Brantley's back? Should I be trying to sell in a dynasty? (Wayne from Houston)	Back injuries always concern me somewhat. That being said, he's not a big time power guy so the concerns aren't as high as they would be for bopper. You can try to sell but you're going to be getting 75 cents or less on your dollar. (Mike Gianella)
2015-03-03 13:00:00 (link to chat)	I was really interested in your column about projection systems being tightly clustered and not all that accurate, all things considered. Do you think this invalidates the projection industry? What do we get out of them, and what do you think we should get out of them in a perfect world? (Jonas from Portland)	To your first question, no, absolutely not-I don't think it invalidates projections at all. Even though they aren't super-accurate and they are all tightly clustered, they are MUCH, MUCH better than guessing league average for every player (or some ad hoc guesses that one might do). In retrospect, I should have been more careful to emphasize this point. I really meant to say that we have a long way to go in terms of improving the projections. We get out of them decent guesses, seasoned with historical accuracy and a lot of regression to the mean. What we should get out of them are better guesses, and the ability to more quickly determine when a player's ability has truly changed. I am definitely in the camp that player abilities do change on a year-to-year basis, but our systems are only crudely capable of telling when. Albert Pujols is an example of this, as is someone like Michael Brantley. (Rob Arthur)
2015-02-04 19:00:00 (link to chat)	In an h2h points league, where ks are -1, bb are +1, which of these 3 OFs would you take? Jose Bautista, Michael Brantley or Adam Jones? (gip from new jersey)	I'm not a fantasy expert by any means, but I'd presume the non Adam Jones option. (Jordan Gorosh)
2015-01-20 19:30:00 (link to chat)	Who's your pick for this year's Corey Kluber and Michael Brantley? (Mike from Chicago)	Good question. Gerrit Cole and Mookie Betts (Ben Carsley)
2015-02-13 19:00:00 (link to chat)	In 2014, Altuve and Rendon cemented themselves as 2nd round picks in 2015. In 2015, name some players who may become 2nd round picks in 2016? Heyward is one? (Vic from Baltimore)	Guys in the third or fourth round who could push up to that level are George Springer, Carlos Gonzalez, and Nolan Arenado. Springer and Arenado probably fit what you're looking for: young guys who could hit that breakout. I like Heyward, but I'm not sure if he's going to provide enough speed to get there. 3rd/4th round value seems like the ceiling (although Michael Brantley seemed like this kind of guy and he did it last year). (Mike Gianella)
2015-03-23 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Would you keep Michael Brantley or George Springer in a keep forever league? Points league that benefits R and RBI for hitters, and I'm competing this year. (Carl from Orlando)	Springer. (Sam Miller)
2014-09-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Some people say that they would rather have Michael Brantley than me. What do you think? (Bryce Harper from DC)	I'm sure Josh Kusnick is one of those people but I am not. (Cory Schwartz)
2014-06-26 14:00:00 (link to chat)	Who are few guys you'd be buying/selling right now? (Shawnykid23 from CT)	I guess I don't necessarily keep a list like this lying around, but off the top of my head... I'm selling: Jesse Chavez, Chase Whitley, Lonnie Chisenhall, Gordon Beckham I'm buying: Kole Calhoun, Ian Kennedy, Joey Votto, Michael Brantley, Will Smith (J.P. Breen)
2014-05-21 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Have you seen any signs that what Michael Brantley is doing is sustainable? Didn't see this amount of power coming from the guy. (JohnnyFive from WA)	I LOOOOVED Brantley coming into this season. If I did a hitter's guide similar to my SP Guide, he might've been my Eovaldi or Kluber. I'd be lying if I said I saw 9 HRs on May 21st, but I'm not completely surprised by legitimate growth. His approach and evolution as a hitter showed some real upside even when it wasn't exactly in the numbers. Plus the fact that he doesn't do any one thing extremely well kept his price low even though it all added up to a really nice fantasy asset last year (Paul Sporer)
2013-02-27 20:00:00 (link to chat)	In a keeper league, I have Norichika Aoki and Michael Brantley as my 3rd OF & top bench player (1B & DH spots are taken by Prince & Morneau). I have an offer to trade either one of them to upgrade my pitching staff (same trade, they're interchangeable). PECOTA prefers Aoki, but I'm worried he will regress heavily in 2013, do you have any thoughts? (ttt from Manhattan)	Howdy, Triple-T. I'm with PECOTA here. I do see some regression for Aoki, but I don't think it will be heavy. The speed looks legitimate, and while I think he might slip in HR a little bit, the numbers overall should be similar. Brantley is the guy I'd move. The Indians offense is loaded, and while Baseball Prospectus's own Jason Martinez has Brantley and Drew Stubbs both starting, I wouldn't be surprised to see Brantley not play quite as much as he did last year. Plus, Brantley doesn't really do any one thing especially well. I think this is a no brainer. I don't know what your offer is, but I'd move Brantley. (Mike Gianella)
2011-06-21 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Rank em please: Brantly, Markakis, Pagan, Torres (Ralph from Arlington)	I think you've got the order right there. Michael Brantley, Nick Markakis, Angel Pagan, Andres Torres. Brantley and Markakis are close, but I'd probably go Brantley first. (Derek Carty)
2011-06-02 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Hi Derek, currently trying to work a deal for Michael Brantley as I'm high him to finish strong. What are your thoughts on him for this season and moving forward in 2012-2013 season? Thanks... (lvhawk from LV, KS)	I like him for sure. Pretty good speed, leads off, should hit for a good AVG. I like him for future years too if he entrenches himself as a legit leadoff guy with 25-30 SB speed. Given his speed and good on-base skills, I think that's pretty likely to happen. (Derek Carty)
2010-03-30 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Please rank these speed options: Rajai Davis, Julio Borbon, Michael Brantley, Brett Gardner. Thanks! (Pat from NJ)	Fantasy: Borbon, Davis, Brantley, Gardner -- based purely on playing time. Real life 2010 (if I was picking guys for my team): Borbon, Gardner, Davis, Brantley. (Shawn Hoffman)
2009-10-02 14:00:00 (link to chat)	Does Andy Marte deserve a starting spot on the Indians next year? And what is the perception of Grady Sizemore? Still a top ten player to build around? (Andy from Saskatoon)	He deserves consideration, anyway. The Indians' LF/1B/3B situation might need clarity, which I would provide with a long overdue trade of Jhonny Peralta. That still leaves Matt LaPorta, who ends up at first once Michael Brantley is deemed ready. Not sure Marte can fade all this competition. (Joe Sheehan)

BP Roundtables

Date	Roundtable Name	Comment
2010-04-05 09:30:00	Season Opener Roundtable	Michael Brantley up for the Indians. So our readers know, his agent is Josh Kusnick, who had been writing some highly entertaining stuff for us this year. Kusnick also reps Phillie Rule 5 pick David Herndon, who made the Phillies roster out of spring training. (Kevin Goldstein)

PITCHf/x Hitter Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC