Michael Brantley

2013

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2012

Brantley's season was cut short by a wrist injury in August that eventually required surgery, but he is expected to make a full recovery. He's not a huge fantasy contributor in any single category but chips in some value in most categories in nearly all formats. Of some concern is that his contact rate slipped from 87 to 83 percent last season, while his career struggles against lefties (.230/.294/.278) may ultimately lead him to sit depending on the composition of the Cleveland bench. Entering his age-25 season, he's a good bet to improve on last year's totals in what will be just his second full season in the majors, so look for Brantley to slot in as Cleveland's leadoff hitter and regular left fielder if Grady Sizemore is healthy enough to play center.

2011

Brantley got off to a slow start, was demoted to Triple-A Columbus, hurt his shoulder upon his recall, got demoted to Triple-A again, and was called back up again only to deal with ankle and hamstring injuries in August and September in a whirlwind season for the 23-year-old. He did hit .284 with 10 steals after his second promotion from Triple-A after a dismal showing (.118 average) in the season's first half even though the underlying skill set didn't appear to change much thanks to a near 200-point jump in his batting average on balls in play. He's the Indians' everyday left fielder and likely leadoff hitter heading into spring training and he offers you speed on the basepaths, but limited power.

2010

Brantley parlayed an injury to Grady Sizemore and the Indians' woeful season into a nice audition in September that saw him hit .313 with four steals for the Tribe as the team's everyday leadoff hitter down the stretch. He has nice instincts on the basepaths (46 steals in 51 tries at Triple-A last year) and a solid approach (59 walks and just 48 strikeouts in 457 at-bats at Triple-A) for a leadoff hitter but has to develop some power or pitchers will just pound the strike zone on him without fear. He's been one of the younger players at each of his minor league stops but a .369 career slugging percentage just isn't going to cut it. He'll have a chance to win an everyday role with the Indians this spring, especially with the talk of moving Sizemore down to the middle of the order.

2009

Brantley, who was acquired as part of the package for CC Sabathia, hit .319 and swiped 27 bases as a 21-year old in his first full season at Double-A. He's got an excellent batting eye but will need to develop some more power as he matures or advanced pitchers will simply pound the strike zone against him as he moves up the minor league chain. There's certainly room on his frame (6'2") for some additional pop but we'll see if it ever develops.

2006

Michael Brantley is the son of former major league outfielder Mickey Brantley. Michael has speed and good on-base skills, but not much in the way of power.