Former Houston Astro Michael Brantley has announced his retirement from Major League Baseball. Brantley wrapped up a 15-year career with a run to the ALCS with Houston in 2023.
Brantley was a seventh-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers directly out of high school in 2005. Before making his MLB debut, he was traded to Cleveland to complete the C.C. Sabathia trade that had taken place earlier.
Afterwards, Brantley emerged as a star for Cleveland. He would play there for a decade, making three all-star teams and becoming one of the game’s best pure hitters. The only things that seemingly held Brantley back were a number of injuries.
After a successful career in Cleveland, Brantley signed with the Houston Astros in 2019. The Astros were coming off of another ALCS appearance in 2018 after winning the franchise’s first World Series in 2017. Brantley fit in well and made his third consecutive all-star team in his first year with the Stros.
Unfortunately, the injury bug would follow Brantley to Houston, and he struggled to stay healthy at times throughout his Astro career as well. Despite that, he made one more all-star team in 2021 and had several memorable moments in multiple postseason runs.
He somewhat surprisingly signed back with Houston before 2023. He missed much of the beginning of the season, but did return to help Houston in the playoffs, which resulted in a seventh consecutive trip to the ALCS.
Brantley retires as a .298 career hitter with 129 home runs, 720 RBIs, and 348 doubles.