Welcome back to the 2015 Last Word on Fantasy Baseball Guide. Over the next several months we will be releasing player profiles, projections, position rankings, and a number of other articles that will help you dominate your fantasy league this season. Whether you play rotisserie or head-to-head; whether you have a standard draft, a snake or an auction league, and whether it’s keeper league or a one-year deal; we have all the fantasy information you need.
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FANTASY PROFILE: MICHAEL BRANTLEY, OF, CLEVELAND INDIANS
LWOS Ranking 8, Captains’ Value: $20.63
Michael Brantley, as well as his owners, enjoyed a magical breakout year last year. He was the prime age for a breakout as he turned 27 last May. We all expected growth, but he had a significant increase in every standard fantasy category. We will project him to regress some. It is hard to project numbers to even hold steady when a play has the kind of jump in production Brantley had last year. That said, there is reason to believe those numbers may hold. His walk rate went up from his career average, while his K rate went down to a new career low. Yes, his babip did hit a career high for a full season. However, a .336 babip his not that far out of line for a player with his skills.
Our suggestion is to buy the one year growth on Michael Brantley. He has always been a player with great skills and now in the prime of his career he has finally put it all together. He will only be 28 this year and could improve on those numbers from last year even though now projection system will show that. Sometimes, you need to factor in outside variables that can have an effect on a player. This is one of those times where I will buy the one year breakout. You should too. You will need to pay more than our value shows and thats okay.
| Year | Team | Pos | G | PA | AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2011 | CLE | OF | 114 | 493 | 451 | 63 | 7 | 46 | 13 | 34 | 76 | 0.266 | 0.318 | 0.384 | 0.702 |
| 2012 | CLE | OF | 149 | 609 | 552 | 63 | 6 | 60 | 12 | 53 | 56 | 0.288 | 0.348 | 0.402 | 0.750 |
| 2013 | CLE | OF | 151 | 608 | 556 | 66 | 10 | 73 | 17 | 40 | 67 | 0.284 | 0.332 | 0.396 | 0.728 |
| 2014 | CLE | OF | 156 | 676 | 611 | 94 | 20 | 97 | 23 | 52 | 56 | 0.327 | 0.385 | 0.506 | 0.891 |
| 2015 Projection | CLE | OF | 675 | 613 | 80 | 16 | 82 | 20 | 52 | 62 | 0.309 | 0.363 | 0.469 | 0.833 |
OAKLAND, CA – APRIL 22: Michael Brantley #23 of the Cleveland Indians bats against the Oakland Athletics during the game at O.co Coliseum on Sunday April 22, 2012 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
