Comments on: Where Should Brantley Bat?

By: Graham

Graham — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:57:15 +0000

BTW If i were Terry, I’d bat him 5th

By: Graham

Graham — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:56:19 +0000

I love watching Michael play for us. I think he brings a great attitude along with above average skills in almost every aspect of his game. He’s got speed, he’s got a glove, his ability to make contact at the plate stands out compared to everyone else. The one thing about Michael that one could critique is his tendency to swing at balls outside the zone. Get him to shrink his zone and get more aggressive on the base paths….LOOK OUT.

Roll Tribe

By: Steve Alex

Steve Alex — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:55:01 +0000

If you could combine the patience of Brantley with the energy and base-stealing of Kipnis you would have a Loftonian leadoff man.

By: Chris Burnham

Chris Burnham — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 06:50:15 +0000

I messed around with this in a column from a few weeks ago. I think Kipnis leads off. He’s more consistent stealing bases. In a perfect world, think they’d like Brantley to lead off because of his patience. I would guess he projects as the two-hole guy, but in terms of making it hard for relievers to match up, I’d be curious if they’d try Asdrubal in the two-hole and put Brantley at three (left, switch, left). But that’s just me spit-balling.

By: Drew

Drew — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 21:13:51 +0000

you convinced me. I originally fell into the bucket of people who looked at 2012 and felt that Brantley was a better hitter out of the #6 spot. But you analysis is sound and I hope he leads off.

By: Posts about TheIndians From Other Great Blogs issue #1 | Cleveland Indians Dugout Online | Cleveland Indians Blog

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 20:20:45 +0000

[...] Throws: Right Bats: Right How Acquired (1): Free Agent, July 11, 1948 (Negro Leag more… Where Should Brantley Bat? – itspronouncedlajaway.com 01/30/2013 I’m not sure I have ever seen a player bat in so many [...]

By: The Doctor

The Doctor — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:48:10 +0000

Given the options currently on the roster, Brantley seems like the clear choice. There’s nothing I loathe more than just throwing all logic about “maybe we want our leadoff guy to be someone who actually gets on base” out the window and batting some bum like Stubbs leadoff just because he steals a base occasionally. I wouldn’t be against them signing Hafner (assuming it’s for cheap) and batting him leadoff, but I think we’re still years away from seeing managers consistently break one of the stupidest “this is how it’s always been done” traditions in baseball. Back to Brantley, his minor/major splits on stolen base success would suggest he was getting by on pure speed in the minors, and that it’s simply not enough anymore in the majors – I like having a guy that can go 1st-3rd or 1st-home on a single, but in general I’m not super enthused about throwing away outs having a guy try to steal 2nd at the very beginning of the game right after he gets on base.

By: Ryan Pinheiro

Ryan Pinheiro — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:43:21 +0000

Yeah I completely agree. Brantley used to steal a lot of bases in the minors, but that has not translated yet to the big leagues. He has the potential to steal 30+ bases though, so let’s hope this is the year he finally figures it out on the base paths!

By: Steve Alex

Steve Alex — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:12:55 +0000

Brantley also takes a lot of pitches and works counts, which you want from your leadoff man. I just wish he would steal more bases. If he could handle the job, it makes the rest of the lineup a lot deeper because then you have some combination of Kipnis and Cabrera batting 2-3, Santana 4 and Swisher 5. All four are 20 HR threats.