Nothing went well for the Cincinnati Reds in 2022. The club entered the season hoping to compete, but those hopes were dashed by some cost-saving moves over the winter that have softened the depth of the roster. As soon as the season started, the injury bug bit them hard, adding pressure to such depth, which the crew was unable to withstand. Their record is currently 23-39, just ahead of Washington among National League clubs. However, one of the little silver linings in all of this is that these injuries created an opportunity Brandon DruryHe’s having the best season of his career.
Drafted by Atlanta in the 13th round in 2010, Drury was sent to the Diamondbacks as a prospect, as part of a deal that sent Justin Upton The other way. He made his league debut with Arizona in 2015 and showed some hope during his first few seasons. From 2015-2017 with the Snakes, he made 289 games and hit 31 home runs, making .271/.319/.448. This wasn’t an elite production, with WRC+ actually coming in just below average at 95, but still an encouraging player in his 22-24 seasons. He also provided the Diamondbacks with defensive versatility, spending time in every position on the field and corners of the field.
There was enough to stir up the machinations of the Yankees, who acquired Drury ahead of the 2018 season. Unfortunately for them, this was the beginning of what would turn out to be a miserable three-year stint for him. Drury dealt with blurred vision and migraines, causing him to waste time and struggle so much that the Yankees made him choose him for the Palace. While hitting well on the farm, he struggled hard in the majors, hitting .176/.263/.275 in 18 games with Yank.
Despite those struggles, Blue Jays decided to take a chance on him, and acquired him from the Yankees in J A Happ Trade, to end Drury’s time with the Yanks after only a few months. After just eight matches with the Canadian Birds, Drury faced another setback, as he broke his hand and headed to the injured list again. In 2019, Drury was able to stay healthy but still struggle, hitting .218/.262/.380 for 66 wRC+ in 120 games. In 2020, the suffering only got worse, with Drury reaching 0.152/.184/.174 in 21 games, resulting in a WRC+ production of -10 and set for the task at the end of the season.
Despite such a poor three-year run, the Mets decided to take a hand on him, and signed him to a minor league deal ahead of the 2021 campaign. After the top league team struggled with a heap of injuries to their position’s mix of players, they called up Drury in May, who was bidding Awesome on Triple-A. He would end up holding himself well in the utility role, playing 51 games while taking the field at first, second and third bases, plus corners. He hit .274/.307/.476 for wRC+ out of 114 in 88 plate appearances. Despite this strong performance, he was set for the task as the season ended in October.
A similar situation occurred for Drury this year, as he signed a secondary-league contract with the Reds in March. A large number of injuries caused the need for Drury, who took the opportunity and ran with her. He has now played 53 games for the Reds, which is more than his total for the Mets last year. However, it was clearly a full-time role this time around, showing off his 218th with more than double his 88th role last year. In that time, he’s made 12 home runs, a number that only 12 other players in the National League have surpassed this year. The slash total is .269/ .335/ .508 for wRC+129. It’s already had 1.4 wins over substitution this year, according to FanGraphs, with nearly two-thirds of the season remaining. That doesn’t sound like good luck either, as his .297 BABIP of the Year is barely ahead of his career .294 mark, and his Statcast page has plenty of those healthy red hues. Defensively, Drury played largely second and third positions, helping the club cover their long absences jonathan india And the Mike Stacksalthough he also made the engraving in shortstop and first base.
With all this in mind, it is very difficult to relate Drori’s true nature. The pessimist could point to his bleak streak from 2018-2020 and dismiss this year’s show as a small sample of the hotline. It’s also just rent, as this season started with five years and one day of service. Since he cracked Cincy’s opening day roster, he’ll barely lose six years at the end of this season. But on the other hand, he showed enough promise earlier in his career for three different teams to trade for him, which clearly shows that such a breakthrough was considered possible in the past. It now delivers on that promise and should hold a great deal of appeal for rival teams, especially those with budget constraints. Financial data for the Drury deal was not reported at the time, though his baseball reference page lists his salary as the league’s minimum of $700,000.
What Drury also presented as a commercial candidate is his versatility. Since he can play multiple ground positions, there are likely to be several teams that could fit him into their plans. The Angels have had quite a bit of their middle ground this year and Drury could enter second base. Josh Harrison And the Laura Garcia They both struggled hard, leaving the White Sox with the cornerstone as an obvious area for promotion. The Dodgers love to add the underrated bench players they’ve seen Justin Turner Most of the season has slacked so far. Alec Boom Philly is still struggling, and since they passed the luxury tax for the first time, Drury’s lower salary may be more attractive to them. It is also possible that an injury to a player will create a need for a team that has not had a player previously, as happened this week Ozzy Albis The injury created a huge hole at second base in Atlanta. Although the Blue Jays that almost certainly won’t be in the mix are the Blue Jays, as Drury appears to be invulnerable and ill-equipped to cross the border. Drury wouldn’t complete remaking any of these teams on his own, but players like this can sometimes have huge effects. The deadline for trading was sent last year Max Scherzer And the Tria Turner To the Dodgers, but the Braves won the World Championship after getting less famous players like Jorge SolerAnd the Adam Duval And the Eddie Rosario.
Even if Drury gets attention by the deadline, it probably won’t lead to a massive return. Regardless of a strong season, he has enough warts on his resume to prevent getting teams from bombing any potential elite pack. However, for the Reds to get any kind of commercial payoff for a player signing a minor league deal when spring training was already in place, that’s a fantastic development in a season when it hasn’t been much.
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