Roster Expansion: Michael Brantley Gets the Call
Written By: Scott | Category: Cleveland Indians | Comments: 15
While the Browns are working to reduce their roster before 4 PM today, the Indians are using the majority of this week to add to theirs.
Last week, we mentioned the potential call-ups including Carlos Carrasco (more on him later today) and Lou Marson. This morning, we get word from Tony Lastoria that the Indians will also add Michael Brantley to the expanded roster to pair him with teammate Matt LaPorta.
Through 116 games with Columbus, Brantley has put up a line of .267/.350/.361 with 80 R, 1.3 BB/K, and 46 stolen bases. The stolen base mark ties him with Louisville’s Drew Stubbs for most in all of the International League. He has also only been caught stealing five times over the entire season.
As I hinted late last week, Lastoria also feels that this move will expedite the ultimate shut down of DH Travis Hafner (and potentially Grady Sizemore), even though Eric Wedge claims that the team can wait until the end of the season.
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(Michael Brantley Steals Third via Cubbie Nation/Flickr)
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 2013 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
Finally, Brantley gets the deserved call-up that should have happened after the all-star break. All the fooling around with megastiff Trevor Crowe could have been put to develpment use. Now, LEAVE Brantley, LaPorta, and Marte in the lineup EVERYDAY. Install Brantley at leadoff and move Grady to the third slot.
Can we platoon the manager?
I’m guessing that Brantely’s going to spend most of his time here in September getting the bat throttled out of his hands by major league pitching, but I have to admit that a young team with room to develop for the future is going to be alot more interesting to watch in September than the collection of thoroughly mediocre major leaguers that we’ve all been forced to watch for so much of this year.
As Scott says, I hope the Indians use this time as an opportunity to shut down both Grady and Hafner for the rest of this season…or at least shut down Hafner and let Grady DH the rest of the way.
@2: Agree with you and Scott.
Waiting to shut Travis down, waiting to push Grady onto the operating room-bound gurney, waiting to move Peralta to third … Time to spare some of these feelings and do what’s best for the organization.
meant “STOP sparing feelings..” Also time to proofread …
Yes Isis because developing a player who after the All Star Break was hitting .268 / .304/ .390 was a poor choice? You’re so selective in the players you’re willing to let be brought up to attempt to play. Who’s to say that Brantley doesn’t come up here and put up worse numbers (I think he will for Sept., but I have hopes for him next year FWIW) but it’s not like Crowe wasn’t playing well before he was injured and let’s also not forget that Crowe was also a rookie so it makes sense to see what we have in him as well.
And before you give me the Shappetti stuff how’s you’re Jon Melon argument doing these days?
I agree with JD that Brantley is likely to struggle in his initial callup. His AAA numbers are decent for a kid, and have been steadily improving. Still, it isn’t as if he’s completely torn up the International League.
Overall, I’m a little less bullish on Brantley than a lot of people. The speed and plate discipline is nice, but I still look at the kid and think to myself, “potential really good fourth outfielder.” In my perfect world, he’s battling with Crowe for that title while LaPorta stays in LF.
For what it’s worth, I think that Crowe was rushed up, and am not quite ready to discount him as a useful ballplayer. I don’t think that he’ll ever justify being a first-round pick, but he should have his uses as a role player.
agreed Doracle…I dont know that he is ready…I also dont think Crowe was ready either…I think he will be a good pinch runner and 4th OF, but for now, it looks pretty well set with Choo, Grady, and LaPorta in the OF…Brantley would do well to spell them twice a week total at the most…I hope he succeeds, but it seems likely he will be on par with Crowe and Gimenez…
I hope they let Grady and Haf heal, and can field a solid team next year (which is seeming more and more likely as the year progresses)…I’m excited to get a look at Carrasco…
Now, I am a bit bullish on Brantley. Yes, he’s had a tough year adjusting to AAA, but the thing to remember is that he’s only 22, so he’s at a very advanced level for his age.
Another thing that’s been encouraging about Brantley is that he’s shown a teeny flash of power this year, which is nice to see. While Brantley’s not going to be the next coming of Albert Pujols, it would be nice to see him drive the ball a bit so that he’s something a little more than a slappy singles hitter that walks a bit.
There’s a quick and dirty stat called Isolated Power (ISO) that strips batting average out of slugging percentage to give you a feel for how much “power” a guy really hits for. Brantley’s pulled the highest ISO of his career by far in 2009:
2005 – .343 AVG, .377 SLG, .034 ISO
2006 – .300 AVG, .339 SLG, .039 ISO
2007 – .296 AVG, .373 SLG, .077 ISO
2008 – .319 AVG, .398 SLG, .079 ISO
2009 – .267 AVG, .361 SLG, .094 ISO
Now, to be fair, a .094 ISO isn’t the most exciting thing in the world (the 2009 average AL ISO is .164). But I think that if Brantley can continue to develop, get that average back into the .285-.300 range and continue to show a little more pop as he gets older and fills out…you could be looking at a leadoff hitter that’s sporting constant .285/.375/.400 seasons with a ton of speed…and that could be a very nice player for years to come.
All that said, I still think he’s going to get blown away by major league pitchers this month…but I sure hope he proves me wrong!
I wouldnt mind if he hit leadoff, took walks and just attempted to bunt for basehits for the entire month…
Brantley’s had some injury issues of his own. I thoroughly disagree with Isis’s “finally” sentiments, as following Brantley’s performance all year it has been clear that his bat just isn’t ready. His plate eye is getting better, he’s ML-ready in the field and most likely on the bases, but his bat is NOT ready. He’s struggled to hit .260 with some mashers behind him most of the year.
I wonder how much PT he’s going to get at all, honeslty. I can see Wedge relegating him to pinch-running/defensive replacement duty. Not sure what the point of calling him up a week before Columbus’s season ends would be, in that case.
LaPorta will ultimately be a 1b. He doesn’t have the fielding ability to stick in left long term.
Here’s hoping Brantley shows some signs of becoming a capable LF/leadoff guy for us next season.
LaPorta hasnt shown me anything that says he cant be an everyday LF’er…he’s actually played better than I expected out in the outfield…not saying he should be, just that he isnt horrible…hes made a couple of nice plays…
[...] Scott noted earlier, the September roster expansion in the majors has moved OF Michael Brantley up to the big club. The Clippers made only one other move this week, which involved activating LHP Bobby Livingston [...]
Reading all this is honestly, funny to me. Watching the first two games Brantley has played in on the Major League, show that the game is not to big for him.
He’s been hitting line drives all over the yard. 3 – 7 a run scored, not bad for a first timer.