Not all major league players develop at the same pace, if they develop at all. There were high hopes for Michael Brantley of the Cleveland Indians when he broke into the majors at just 22, but he largely struggled for the first few years of his career. He made his debut in the 2009 season, and by the end of the 2012 season he had only 16 career homeruns to his credit. In 2013 he did hit 10 homeruns and drive in 73, but his OPS was just .728.
In many ways, 2014 could be viewed as a make or break season for Brantley, and he is sure making the most of it to this point. He has already surpassed his best ever homerun season by hitting 15, and there are still a couple months of baseball to be played. His OPS is way above his career average, as are almost all of the rest of his numbers. Brantley made his first all-star team in 2014, and seems poised to finally make good on all of that potential and claim his place among some of the best outfielders in the game.
Even better news for the Indians and their fans is that Brantley is already signed to a very team-friendly contract for the next several seasons. He is signed through 2017 at least, with a team option for 2018. He is due to make 5 million in 2015, 6.5 million in 2016, and 7.5 million in 2017. While those are impressive salaries for anyone to take home, they 
also represent a significant discount over his true market value if he is to keep performing at his current all-star level.
Baseball runs in the family for Brantley, who is the son of former major leaguer Mickey Brantley, who played in parts of four seasons for the Seattle Mariners in the mid-80’s. At 6’2’’ with good speed, he has the prototypical build and athleticism for an outfielder. So far in 2014, the Indians are hanging right around .500 and trying to contend for the second wild card position. If the Indians are able to improve their pitching to go along with the offense led by Brantley, they just may be able to hang in the race and grab a playoff spot for the second year in a row.
It has only been four months of excellent play so far in 2014, so Brantley likely has a little further to go before he is commonly thought of as one of the games top players. However, with the impressive skills that he possesses, and the numbers he has put up so far this year, very few will be surprised to see him continue at or near this pace.
