Houston Astros Add Outfielder Michael Brantley

By Jordan Long

The Houston Astros are looking to make a run to the postseason in 2019.  If they do, it would mark their 3^rd consecutive trip.  In order for that to happen, the Astros felt they needed a left-handed batter.  They agreed to a 2-year contract worth $32 million with outfielder Michael Brantley.

                Brantley spent the past 10 years in Cleveland.  From 2016 to 2017 injuries plagued him, allowing  Brantley to appear in a total of 101 games between the 2 seasons.  Last year he had a bounce back year, playing in 143 games, the most since 2014 when he was in 156 games. 

                At the plate, Brantley is not a power hitter.  He has smacked 20 home runs in a season once, 2014.  In his career Brantley has 87 home runs.  Rather then hammering the ball over the wall, he is able to make contact and move his teammates around the base paths to score runs.  Last year he hit .309 with 76 RBI’s.   Brantley doesn’t swing at pitches outside the zone with a total of 60 strike outs which will help him take counts deep when he is up.  Those may end up in walks.

                When Brantley is on base, he is a threat to steal bases.  His speed allows him to reach base before the tag is put on.  Last year he stole an impressive 12 bases while being caught 3 times.  When he is in scoring position, whoever is behind him in the lineup will need a base hit to score him which will extend Houston’s’ lead.

                Besides his offense, Brantley can play defense.  He is mostly a leftfielder but can play center field.  He spent all 134 games last year at left field with only 1 error.  He rarely misses catching a ball.  Brantley can throw runners out who are trying to advance with a total of 6 outfield assists last season.

                Houston is hoping they will have the healthy Brantley. With him in the lineup, they are a more dangerous team offensively and defensively.  If he misses time on the disabled list, that may spell trouble for the Astros and their record might be worse than it was last year at 103-59.  Hopefully Brantley is their answer to advancing back to the World Series in 2019. fffffffff