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Farewell to Uncle Mike

Looking back at this golden age of Astros baseball (2015 to now), the best position player free agent signing had to be Michael Brantley and one of the best overall. The Astros built so much of their team from within or by blockbuster trades with a few free agent signings sprinkled into the mix that his signing stands out among their FA choices.  

In Brantley, they signed someone who did not have a bad record (Charlie Morton), or was not on the downward slide of his career (Carlos Beltran / Jose Abreu).  They signed the professional hitting machine, who was coming off two consecutive All-Star seasons with the Cleveland Indians, and then continued the excellent performance with the Astros.

In his 5 years with the Astros, which unfortunately, due to his shoulder problems, ended up to close to 3-1/2 seasons, he gave the Astros all you could expect performance-wise.

His .305 BA/ .365 OBP/ .828 OPS with the Astros was better than his 10 season totals .295 BA/ .351 OBP/ .781 OPS with the Indians. He made the All-Star team twice with the Astros in 2019 and 2021. While his power numbers were never great, he had a swing that you would want your kids to emulate and was a doubles machine throughout his career. That swing was smooth, controlled, and constructed to contact the ball with the sweet spot of the bat.

The one play that most Astro fans will remember him for would be from Game 6 of the 2019 ALCS against the Yankees. It’s the 7th inning with Will Harris on the mound and the Yanks trailing 4-2. Aaron Judge is on first base with one out, and Aaron Hicks hits a sinking liner that Brantley makes a spectacular diving catch, pops up, and doubles Judge off first to end the inning and the threat.

But as was typical for Uncle Mike, his play is overshadowed when the Yanks tie it in the ninth, and Jose Altuve walks off the game and the series with his two-run dinger off Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth.

His career, unfortunately, was brought to a halt by recurring shoulder problems as he missed the second half of the 2022 season and almost all of the 2023 season.

But if his teammates like Martin Maldonado are to be believed, he was a critical cog in the 2022 championship run, sticking around to support his teammates, though injured and apparently holding one of the most inspiring team meetings in World Series history. This brought him his one and only Championship ring, and though he never stepped on the field in that WS, he earned it, nonetheless.

We were excited when he decided to come here for two years and then when he re-signed for another couple of seasons. We are sad now that injury forced him out, but it sounds like he will be doing what will make him happy, spending time with his kids and, perhaps like his father major leaguer Mickey Brantley, passing along the secrets to the game.

Michael Brantley, thank you for all the good times, good at bats, and professionalism you brought to our favorite team. We wish you the best going forward.

 

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24 responses to “Farewell to Uncle Mike”

  1. I wish him good luck and much happiness. Would love to see Espada get him as a hitting coach or a base coach. Or somethng to keep him in the Astros dugout.

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  2. Brantley wants to spend time with his family and coach his sons’ baseball team, so it doesn’t seem like it is in the cards to join the Astros staff right now.
    Brantley’s injuries greatly affected his career performance.
    Of all the nicknames he acquired over the years, I like Uncle Mike the best and Professional Hitter the least.
    What he meant to the Astros success and what the Astros meant to his career success is a really good balance.

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  3. This is way off course for a Brantley discussion and way out there as a prediction.
    I would not be surprised if Will Wagner plays for the Astros in 2024.
    I don’t know what he is doing to prepare for spring training, but I believe this guy has “it”.

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    • So what are we talking about with Will Wagner?

      He will turn 26 this coming July.
      Since being picked in the 18th round of the 2021 draft he has gone from hitting solidly to hitting very good.
      He tore up the Arizona Fall league in 2022 – .346 BA/ .433 OBP/ 1.145 OPS
      In about a half season in 2023 – 65 games that was mostly AA – he was terrific with .337 BA/ .420 OBP/ .938 OPS.
      He’s split time between 2B and 3B, but his fielding is much better at 2B.

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  4. Michael Brantley represents all that is good about the Astros. Like Craig Biggio before him, he’ll be molding the next generation of kids, including his own, learning the game of baseball. 1oldpro, I can’t think of a better career path.

    When I spent a series in Corpus last year, Joey Loperfido stood out amongst his peers on the field. His demeanor was just different. I hope we’re both right about him and Will Wagner.

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    • So, what are we talking about with Joey Loperfido?
      He will turn 25 this coming May.
      Since being picked in the 7th round of the 2021 draft he has gone from A ball all the way to AAA ball.
      He was excellent in A and A+ ball in 2022 – .316 BA/ .408 OBP/ .900 OPS
      In 2023 he was very good at AA for half the season .296/.392/.940 but a bit bleh at AAA in 32 games with .235 BA/ .333 OBP/ .737 OPS.
      He’s played the most games in the OF including CF, but has also been used at 1B and 2B.

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      • 17 of his 31 starts at Sugar Land were in centerfield. If he hits there we’ll likely see him by mid season to play outfield and spell Abreu at first. If he does not hit in AAA, we don’t see him.

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      • Here is what gives me positive vibes about Joey L –

        As he has climbed the ladder level to level there has been no change in his K/BB ratio or his K/game, until his 32 game stint at AAA. If he opens the first half in Sugar Land with 70 games and has around 35 BBs and 70 strikeouts, I’m ready as long as he isn’t hitting .210, and that’s unlikely.

        That’s what always scared me about Korey Lee. When publications kept putting this guy on prospect lists I kept seeing a guy that, as the pitching got harder, he started walking less and striking out more, to the point that his AAA numbers looked untenable. The Astros made the right call getting a BP arm they had control of for 2 seasons for him.

        I assume that the reason he stays on the right side of the IF and the left side of the OF is his arm isn’t as strong as some other guys. Maybe that is a bad assumption. If it is, I would like to see him at 3B at Sugar Land – I don’t think we are talking about an IF Bregman leaves, I think it’s a when Bregman leaves – he could be the first guy we the team could look at. He has played all of 2 games at 3B in the minors. Zach Dezenzo may actually get that look though – but I am not a fan of his swing and miss, and we haven’t seen him past AA, where he struggled with his ratios.

        Will Wagner looks a lot like Grae Kessinger with better bat to ball. Kessinger owns the 40 man spot right now, but I think I would rather have Will. Kessinger might also have the edge having played a lot of SS, but with Dubon on the roster does that really matter?

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  7. We will miss Uncle Mike, but he’s certainly earned his retirement. He had the smoothest swing since Will Clark. Here’s looking at you, kid!

    Guess I’m gonna step down
    Maybe I’ll buy some land
    I’ll play with my kids in the yard
    I always listened to my old man
    You know this body won’t last forever
    I didn’t sign a contract anew
    I’m not a present for you fans to open
    This guy’s too young to be singing the blues

    So goodbye Minute Maid Park
    Where the fans all scream so loud
    You can’t plant me in your clubhouse
    I’m going back to my lounge
    Back to the howling, young neighborhood youths
    Hunting the stray golf balls
    Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies
    Beyond the Minute Maid Park

    What do you think you’ll do, then?
    I’ll shoot the breeze with friends
    It’ll take you a couple of hotdogs and nachos
    To set you on your butt again
    Maybe you’ll get a replacement
    There’s plenty like me to be found
    Mashers who ain’t got a penny
    Sniffing for at-bats from Dana Brown

    So goodbye Minute Maid Park
    Where the fans all scream so loud
    You can’t plant me in your clubhouse
    I’m going back to my lounge
    Back to the howling, young neighborhood youths
    Hunting the stray golf balls
    Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies
    Beyond the Minute Maid Park

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  8. To get a little flow going –

    Roster Resource has Pressly, Abreu, Montero, Graveman, Blanco, Sousa, Bielak, and Urquidy in the pen as their projection.

    I think national publications that try and key on one team know less than we do. The first 4 are obviously there – but I’ll go Blanco, Martinez, Sousa as the other 3 and guess the Astros open with a 6 man rotation. The Astros open with 7, get 1 day off, then play 13 in a row including a two road series and a home series with no travel days – so 20 games in the first 21 days and a 41 year old ace. I wouldn’t be surprised if they spend the majority of the year in a 6 man.

    Another interesting note – roles. We know roles are important to a bullpen. Knowing when and how you are going to be used and everyone knowing who is up based on the flow of the game helps a pen. I wonder though – given the little bit of a drop off that we see in Pressly, in the stats, if he and Abreu tomorrow landed with a new team would Pressly be looked at as a Graveman type – 6th/7th inning guy that we will use in some high leverage, and Abreu is the closer? I’m not advocating for the change, I think Abreu is critical where he is right this second, and Pressly despite his slightly diminished stuff is still getting it done – I am just wondering if the roles didn’t exist going into ST, and a new manager had to set them without historical context – how would they end up getting set?

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  9. Roster Resource, in the instance of naming pitchers in their depth chart projections, ALWAYS uses 40-man roster players and players who are still around from the previous year. Predicting surprises or add-ons is not in their best interests.
    They never would consider someone like Whitley to name in a reliever spot, because they don’t want to be laughed out of town. They are content to be surprised if somebody else kicks the door in. They sure as heck don’t want to step out on any limb. Safety first! (one of my least favorite sayingisms ever), behind “you people” and “my bad”.

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    • I get what you are putting down, surprises can come from anywhere. I would for Whitley to dazzle us all with 98 MPH fastballs that dot the corner and 84 MPH sliders that buckle the knees.

      I just doubt it. But stranger things have happened. Certainly though every year there are bullpen surprises and 60+ inning, sub 3 ERA performances everywhere that no one saw coming (Rafael Montero in 2022!). If Seth had a little more zip on his FB that would be my look out for guy. But certainly this team can use one to show up and do it. Why not Whitley.

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  10. Good morning! I sure hope Jacob Melton becomes the guy Dana Brown is touting this month. But he’s played just 19 AA games. He hit .182 against lefties last year. His minor league OBP is .338. He’s a good athlete. I like the homers and stolen bases, but it’s way too premature for anyone to be suggesting Melton as Tucker’s replacement.

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    • I have to agree OP – of course I’ve yet to hear a player say he was not in the best shape in his career coming into any Spring Training, but the ability to actually swing the bat without being careful, might help Alex avoid his traditional bad start to the season.

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