Michael Brantley

Michael Brantley
Brantley in 2010.
Cleveland Indians – No. 23
Outfielder
Born: (1987-05-15) May 15, 1987 Bellevue, Washington
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
September 1, 2009 for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics (through May 7, 2013)
Batting average	.275
Home runs	17
Runs batted in	149
Teams
Cleveland Indians (2009–present)

Michael Charles Brantley, Jr. (born May 15, 1987) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Cleveland Indians. He is the son of former MLB player and coach Mickey Brantley.

Brantley was raised in Port St. Lucie, Florida and attended Ft. Pierce Central High School.

Professional career

Milwaukee Brewers

He was drafted by Milwaukee in the seventh round of the 2005 amateur entry draft. In 2005 he played for their Rookie league Helena Brewers and Arizona Brewers. He was promoted to the Class A West Virginia Power in 2006. In 2007, Brantley split his time between West Virginia and the Double-A Huntsville. .

Cleveland Indians

On October 3, 2008, he was traded, as the player to be named later, as the culmination of a transaction that sent Rob Bryson and Matt LaPorta to the Cleveland Indians for C.C. Sabathia on July 7. Near the end of the 2009 season, he was called up by the Indians to replace the injured Grady Sizemore in center field. In his time there, he hit .313 with 11 RBIs. On July 4, 2010, he was again called up to the majors to fill in for the injured Shin-Soo Choo. In 2012, as of 6/16/12, Brantley has a 22 game hitting streak. In 2012 he was given the nickname "Dr. Smooth" by Cleveland Indians sports writers Jordan Bastian, Nick Camino, and Dennis Manoloff on Twitter for his smooth swing and approach at the plate. The nickname has now grown and been mentioned on the Cleveland Indians radio WTAM 1100 by Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus.

See also

• List of second-generation Major League Baseball players

External links

• MiLB.com player profile
• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)