Brandon Drury’s hot start to the season is crucial for a banged up New York Yankees and his performance is making Cashman look good once again.
Brandon Drury has five hits, a home run and four RBI for the New York Yankees through the first four games of the season. Recently acquired third baseman Drury has made his presence felt in the middle of the lineup for the Yankees.
Drury batted .385 in the Bronx Bombers’ season-opening series against the Toronto Blue Jays, with a home run and four RBI. To go along with his team-best batting average, Drury’s five hits and .500 OBP are also team-highs for the Yankees through the first four games of the 2018 season.
Drury said after the Yankees loss to the Blue Jay 7-4 on Sunday that his focus on elevating the ball more has been a key to his success to start the season.
“I think any swing that I elevate is definitely a product of the work I’ve put in,” Drury said per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.
Drury’s impact in the lineup has been felt the most when the Yankees have runners on base with two outs.
During Friday’s 4-2 win over the Blue Jays, Drury came up twice with two outs and runners in scoring position, and in both at-bats came through for the Yankees. First was an RBI double in the second inning to score the game’s first run, followed by an RBI single in the fourth inning to give the Bronx Bombers a 2-1 lead.
In Sunday’s game, Drury capped off a four-run third inning for the Yankees, blasting a two-run bomb over the wall in left-center to make all four of his RBI this season come with two outs.
Drury’s ability to hit with two outs and with runners in scoring position was a major plus when Yankees general manager Brian Cashman acquired him in a three-team trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks in spring training.
Drury batted .289 with three home runs and 46 RBI last season with runners in scoring position for the Diamondbacks.
From his performance at the plate through the first four games of the season, Drury is showing how valuable he can be for the Yankees in the middle of their lineup.
With stars like Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez having slow starts to the season, Drury’s performance at the plate was very important towards the Yankees being able to split their series with the Blue Jays.
His ability to produce runs from either the fifth, sixth or seventh spot in the lineup gives the Yankees another great bat in the middle of the lineup, which is huge now with Greg Bird being out the next 6-8 weeks.
If Drury continues to provide great production at the plate, the Yankees lineup will be even more tough to navigate through for opposing pitchers once Judge, Sanchez and the rest of the big bats for the Bronx Bombers get going.
Drury’s ability to play multiple positions in the field could also play a huge factor for the Yankees here in the early goings of the season with both Aaron Hicks and Billy McKinney going down with the injuries the past few days.
With experience playing the corner outfield spots in Arizona, the Yankees could play Drury in left or right field if they wanted to give Brett Gardner a day off or have Giancarlo Stanton as the DH for that game.
With Miguel Andujar being recently called up, playing Drury in the outfield could be a way to get Andujar some time at third base too.
Drury is excited about getting his first chance to play at Yankee Stadium on Monday in the team’s home opener.
“We’re excited to get back home and play in front of our fans, and get back to work,” Drury told Hoch.
Right now, Drury is an important bat in the Yankees lineup.
His ability to get on base and hit with runners in scoring position has helped the Yankees get production from the middle and bottom parts of their lineup.
It’s only been four games, but Drury has made an impact with the Yankees. So far, trading for Drury is looking like another good move for Cashman.
