Looked around for a condensed thread in regards to the status of Michael Brantley but didnt see one. Lets try and keep all the information (if any) in here. Dusty's comments yesterday on Matt Thomas were somewhat positive, "We need you back now, but really need you back for the Playoffs" or something along those lines. Will we ever see his sweet Left Handed bat again in our lineup? https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/players/michael-brantley
The fact that they gave him so much guaranteed had me hoping he was actually going to be healthy, but it has turned into more what I expected when the offseason began and said we should only bring him back on a minor league deal. I won't go as far to say he never plays again, but I think he'll be lucky to play in 80 games this season, and I think it is a mistake to assume he'll be healthy at any point. It is nice to think about just get healthy for the playoffs, but we still have to make the playoffs, and that is hard with Garcia gone for the year, LMJ probably not returning until closer to the break if at all. I just hope he comes back healthy. Such a valuable bat in the lineup, and if Abreu figures it out will give us a solid 1-8, and then we can just dream on adding Salvador Perez to complete the lineup.
Dana Brown was on 790 this morning and he thought Brantly could be swinging a bat in a week and that he'll be back sooner rather than later.
If Brantley returns the 13 position players are set. Even without him, and hitter brought in will get less than 50% playing time just like Mancini did last year Once Altuve returns, Dubon will take a large part of any playing time that may be left.
Vs RHP Altuve Brantley Alvarez Bregman Tucker Abreu Pena McCormick/Meyers Catcher Vs LHP Altuve Pena Alvarez Bregman Tucker Abreu McCormick Meyers Catcher
I'd have to assume that the follow up they did turned out nothing but normal inflammation which is good news. Nothing structural so you sit and wait until he feels comfortable but what if it happens again? I wonder if it's sore or rather is it painful? So many questions......
DIdn't see a poll option for- he will play again but as a shell of his former self (or one for- he will play again and pick up where he left off) for sure. Gun to my head he gets some AB's in an Astro uniform again and provides less than 1 WAR over the course of his remaining career. Hope I'm wrong.
Coming back from surgery/rehab, then ramping up your activities (like playing in games) and then having some newfound soreness/whatever is pretty damn common, and this strikes me as a "don't push too far, too fast" situation. Lots of ball left to be played. If he comes back, great!, if he doesn't then there's time to fix the roster. Same with the pitching and Urquidy/LMJ
The pain is gone, everything is good, but we have no idea when he'll be back. I swear, it's like they're trolling us at this point.
I'll give him 3 months before I give up on him. I'm not looking for Alvarez, just a good lefty OBP bat near the top (or the top) of the order. Altuve at 2 seems a better fit to me because of his slugging. A lefty leading off makes sense because we face more RHP than LHP. 1. L DH/LF Brantley 2. R 2B Altuve 3. L LF/DH Alvarez (the new cleanup) 4. R 3B Bregman because he takes walking Yordan personally. 5. L RF Tucker 6. R 1B Abreu ( I still think we get old Abreu soon) 7. R SS Pena - good BO for hot and cold 8. R CF McCormick 9. R C Maldonado Bench C Diaz - Gets at least 1 start a week OF Meyer - Gets at least 2 starts a week UT Dubon - Get's 3 starts a week U T Julks - Get's 1 start a week
