Michael Brantley

Michael Charles Brantley Jr. (born May 15, 1987), is an American former professional baseball outfielder.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians and the Houston Astros.

The son of former MLB player and hitting coach Mickey Brantley, he is a left-handed batter and thrower.

When Mickey worked as the hitting coach for the New York Mets in 1999, Michael got to spend time around the Mets.

Brantley attended Fort Pierce Central High School in Fort Pierce, Florida, where he played for the baseball and golf teams.

In his senior year for the baseball team, he had a .595 batting average, scored 22 runs, and recorded 12 runs batted in and 32 stolen bases.

After being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers out of high school, Brantley gave up his National Letter of Intent to play college baseball for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.

After starring for Fort Pierce Central High School in Fort Pierce, Florida, the Milwaukee Brewers selected Brantley in the seventh round of the 2005 MLB draft.

The Milwaukee Brewers selected Brantley in the seventh round, with the 205th overall selection, of the 2005 MLB Draft.

After he signed with the Brewers, Brantley played for their Rookie-level affiliates, the Helena Brewers of the Pioneer League and Arizona Brewers of the Arizona League.

He batted .347 with 14 stolen bases in 44 games for Arizona, and .324 in 10 games for Helena.

The Brewers assigned Brantley to the West Virginia Power of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2006.

He batted .300 with 24 stolen bases in 108 games for West Virginia.

In 2007, Brantley began the season with West Virginia.

After batting .335 in 56 games, the Brewers promoted Brantley to the Huntsville Stars of the Class AA Southern League, where he batted .251 in 59 games.

During the 2008 season, the Brewers traded him to the Indians along with other prospects for pitcher CC Sabathia.

Playing for Huntsville in 2008, Brantley had a .319 batting average with four home runs, 40 RBIs, and 28 stolen bases.

The Brewers traded Brantley to the Cleveland Indians on October 3, 2008, as the player to be named later (PTBNL) in the July 7 transaction where the Brewers acquired CC Sabathia for Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson, and Rob Bryson.

The list of choices for the PTBNL was narrowed down to Brantley and Taylor Green.

The Indians and Brewers agreed that if the Brewers reached the 2008 MLB postseason, the Indians could make the choice.

Since the Brewers made the playoffs, the Indians got to choose, and they chose Brantley.

Brantley made his MLB debut with the Indians in 2009.

Brantley played for the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League in 2009.

He hit .267 for the Clippers.

When major league rosters expanded on September 1, the Indians promoted Brantley to the major leagues.

Brantley reached base safely in his first eight games.

Near the end of the 2009 season, he replaced the injured Grady Sizemore in center field.

In his time there, he hit .313 with 11 RBIs in 28 games.

Due to an injury to Russell Branyan, Brantley opened the 2010 season with Cleveland, starting in left field on Opening Day.

When the Indians activated Branyan on April 19, Brantley, who had batted 5-for-32, was optioned to Columbus.

Brantley batted .315 in 59 games for Columbus, and was recalled to the major leagues on July 4 after an injury to Shin-Soo Choo.

During the 2014 campaign, Brantley won both an MLB All-Star nomination and a Silver Slugger Award for the first time.

That year, he achieved career highs in numerous offensive categories and garnered a third-place finish in the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award voting.

He was subsequently named to four consecutive All-Star team between 2017 and 2021.

Brantley finished in the top ten in batting average in the AL six times.

He appeared in two World Series (2019 and 2021) as a member of the Astros.

Brantley was born in Bellevue, Washington.

His father, Mickey Brantley, played in Major League Baseball (MLB), and was a member of the Seattle Mariners at the time Michael was born.

Michael was raised in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Starting at age seven, Brantley played in Southwestern Port St. Lucie Little League Baseball.