The guy with a major league-leading .338 batting average, a $32 million contract, a six-pack of abs tighter than Matthew McConaughey’s and a secure spot in the heart of the Astros’ studded lineup is the grouchiest player in baseball. Proudly so.

“I embrace it,” Michael Brantley said.

His clubhouse chair is draped with a black shirt that reads: “Hi, don’t care. Thanks.” Hanging in his locker are two T-shirts with Grumpy of the Seven Dwarfs. They are colorful statements about the unamused expression typically on Brantley’s face.

Fellow outfielders George Springer and Josh Reddick purchased the shirts for Brantley. They rip on each other daily, turning the loudest corner of the clubhouse into the back table of comics at that comedy club, but Brantley reacts to the burns like Teflon and without wit.

“His attitude sucks,” Reddick said with his own cantankerous edge. “My positive attitude is way better than his. He’s the most upset multimillionaire I’ve ever met.”

Leadership qualities Astros outfielder Michael Brantley is among the majors’ top 15 in these categories: Batting average 1st (.338) Multi-hit games 1st (52) Hits 3rd (162) Doubles 4th (39) On-base percentage 11th (.398) OPS 14th (.944)

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Brantley, 32, has been worth everything the Astros spent in signing him to a two-year deal last December. He and 31-year-old Yankees infielder D.J. LeMahieu (two years, $24 million), who ranks second behind Brantley in the American League batting chase, have proved perhaps the shrewdest signings from last offseason.

Brantley, whose first 10 major league seasons were spent with the Cleveland Indians, finished third in Most Valuable Player voting in 2014. His slash line is better this season, and with five weeks until the playoffs, his 19 homers, 80 runs and 80 RBIs are in short distance of career highs.

“He’s been everything we thought he was going to be plus more,” Springer said.

Brantley, who in 2014 was the AL’s third-leading hitter behind Jose Altuve and Victor Martinez, is not motivated by potentially winning his first batting title.

“Nope,” he said with a bloodless look. “I don’t play for individual achievements. I play for wins and losses and being the best teammate I can. Stats don’t matter until the end of the year, and what matters is making it to the postseason.”

Brantley also leads the majors with 52 multi-hit games. He is riding an 18-game hitting streak — tied with Yuli Gurriel for the Astros’ longest this season — during which he is batting .458 with 10 doubles, a triple, three home runs, seven walks and 17 RBIs.

“There’s so much more that goes into it than just getting hits,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “His balance and his consistency in his at-bats is really the story.”

On an 0-2 pitch, Brantley singled to lead off a seven-run eighth inning in Sunday’s 11-2 series-sweeping win over the Angels. He is 13-for-39 (.333) on 0-2 counts this season.

“I know the results are enormous — and the multi-hit games — but it’s how he approaches his craft,” Hinch said. “It’s how he prepares. It’s how he demonstrates control in the batter’s box, pitch recognition.”

Brantley’s short stride and still head as he moves toward the pitch are hallmarks of his precision swing. He likes to see a lot of pitches and is satisfied with singles, a mentality ingrained in him because he grew up batting leadoff. He developed a professional approach thanks to his father, Mickey, who played with the Seattle Mariners for four seasons (batting .302 in 1987) and later was a hitting coach for the New York Mets.

Brantley’s skill for waiting out at-bats and fouling off pitches until one is left over the plate is exceptional. While players are striking out at the highest rate in history, no one this season has struck out so rarely in so many chances as Brantley, who has 53 strikeouts in 533 plate appearances. (Angels third baseman David Fletcher has struck out 48 times in 521 plate appearances.) He has swung and missed at only 4.7 percent of the pitches he has seen.

“He’s one of the last of a dying breed,” said Springer, whose violent hack appears to almost thrust him out of his cleats. “He can hit the ball wherever he wants. He can take any pitch and hit it where he wants. He hits the ball off all aspects of his bat — handle to barrel.”

Sophisticated fielding shifts that swallow up line drives and the overall increase in pitch velocity have encouraged the modern home-run-seeking approach that is “a lot more of all or nothing,” Springer said, whereas, “Mike is the complete opposite of that.”

“I’ve always been a hitter that uses all the fields,” Brantley said. “I'm not going to do anything differently because they shift me. I hit into the shift as well as I hit against the shift.”

He hits better, actually. This season, he is batting .304 when opponents do not use an infield shift. When they do, which happens nearly one-third of the time Brantley bats, he is hitting .342, the highest average of anyone to face at least 150 shifts, according to Baseball Savant. His expected on-base percentages are nearly the same whether he faces a shift (.395) or not (.387).

Brantley might act twice his age, but he is among the most impressively fit players on the Astros.

“He does everything he can to take care of his body from prep work to post recovery. He goes to bed really early, sleeps right,” Springer said. “He’s an old man.”

The Astros understood Brantley’s discipline at the plate and off the field before they pursued him. They have discovered his beneficial presence — cranky as it is.

“He’s comfortable in his own skin,” Hinch said. “We have probably the perfect culture for him, where he can be himself and be laid back yet be an influencer in the clubhouse. (With) his veteran presence on a team that’s well-established, I’ve been impressed by how he’s governed that. Leadership is not bestowed on him. It’s how he is.”

In his 11th season, Brantley leads by example with his professional demeanor and consistent performance. He keeps the clubhouse light with the way he invites others to needle him.

“Whether he gets a hit, he punches out, he grounds out, or he hits a game-winning homer, he’s the same guy,” Springer said. “He always seems like he’s in a bad mood, like he’s always grumpy, but he’s not. I like to bother him by flicking his ear. Me and Red mess with him more than he’s ever been messed with in his life. If we didn’t do it, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. He’s having fun, whether his facial expressions show it or not.”

Brantley said he wears the Grumpy shirts all the time.

“I don’t get my feelings hurt,” he said. “I think it’s funny.”

The mention of Reddick and Springer revealed a boyish joy might be hiding inside Brantley. The sides of his lips curled up. He cracked a twitchy smirk. Then he dropped his cheeks. He almost let himself smile.

“When you have good friends on the team,” he said, “it makes it so much easier coming to the field every day.”

hunter.atkins@chron.com

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