Choo Out; Brantley Recalled

A depressing season in Cleveland got considerably worse with the news that RF Shin-Soo Choo suffered a right thumb sprain diving for a ball against the Oakland A’s on Friday night. According to MLB.com’s John Barone, Choo’s bum thumb might require surgery, and the soon-to-be-28-year-old could be out until September. The covert star, ranking among the top 25 position players with 2.9 WAR, leaves behind a .286/.390/.475 line and a .383 wOBA.

With Choo on the shelf, the Indians recalled OF Michael Brantley from Triple-A Columbus. The PTBNL in the 2008 CC Sabathia swap will slide into the leadoff spot and patrol center field for the Tribe. Brantley, 23, possesses two traits that make him intriguing to fantasy owners — he owns the zone and he’s got great wheels.

Since making his full-season debut in 2006, the lefty batter has worked pitchers for walks, avoided whiffs and has stolen bases at a high percentage clip. Brantley batted .313/.406/.377 in 690 A-Ball plate appearances, drawing ball four 13.3% of the time, striking out 12.6% and swiping bags at a 76.4% success rate. At the Double-A Level, Mickey Brantley’s son hit .298/.382/.366 in 702 PA, with an 11.3 BB%, a 8.6 K% and an 80.4% rate of SB success. Over the past two years at Triple-A, Brantley’s got a .284/.364/.377 slash, while walking 10.9%, punching out 10.7% and coming up safe 85.1% of the time that he attempts a steal.

However, the 6-2, 200 pound Brantley rarely drives the ball — his Isolated power was .064 in A-Ball, .068 in Double-A and .093 in Triple-A. Before the 2010 season, Baseball America said that Brantley “doesn’t use his legs much in his swing,” but claimed that more pop could come if he learns to leverage his lower half when he takes a cut.

What can we expect from Brantley now that he’s back in the big leagues? He has a .270/.321/.304 line and a .278 wOBA in very limited playing time (161 PA) over the past two seasons. Brantley’s got a .276/.343/.357 rest-of-season ZiPS projection, with a .324 wOBA. CHONE has a .277/.347/.377 projection for the remainder of the 2010 season. Per Minor League Splits, Brantley’s work with the Clippers this season translates to a .294/.356/.370 showing in the majors.

Equipped with excellent strike zone awareness as well as speed that translates into production on the bases and in the field, Brantley is well worth a pickup in AL-only leagues. The biggest question he’ll have to answer is, can he at least occasionally drive the ball to keep pitchers from pounding the zone against him? If the worst possible outcome for the opposition is a single that skirts by the third baseman, Brantley’s impressive minor league walk rates might not come with him to the show.

Brantley’s recall also leaves Austin Kearns, Trevor Crowe and Shelley Duncan competing for two starting spots on most nights. Kearns has experienced something of a rebound after two lifeless, injury-marred seasons — he’s hitting .271/.354/.417 and has a .344 wOBA. The former Red and National could be trade bait this month. Crowe, 26, has done little to inspire confidence over the past two years. The 2005 first-round pick out of Arizona has a .245/.294/.337 line in 407 PA in 2009 and 2010, showing little in the way of secondary skills (6.1 BB%, .092 ISO). A long-time minor league slugger with the Yankees, Duncan has the best offensive projections among these three…

…but he’s also a 6-foot-5 leviathan projected to be a brutal defender by CHONE (-6 runs for the rest of the year; Kearns comes in at average in a corner spot and Crowe has a +4 rating). It’s doubtful that any of the three have significant fantasy value.