Diamondbacks: Brandon Drury Has the Hot Hand

Brandon Drury has helped keep the Arizona Diamondbacks lineup afloat despite the team’s recent struggles as a unit.

Brandon Drury went deep in the sixth inning of Friday’s 7-2 Diamondbacks victory against the Atlanta Braves for his sixth home run of the season. In his first 90 at-bats of the 2016 season Drury has a slash line of .300/.319/.600 with those six home runs and 12 RBI. Drury has played in 25 games for Arizona this year with appearances at second base, third base, left field, and right field.

The versatile player must remain in the lineup for the time being as he is the key reason the offense hasn’t been more lackluster than it could be at the moment. Over his past 17 games, Drury has hit .338 with a .721 slugging percentage. Over that stretch he has raised his batting average from .200 to .300 and has mostly hit out of the two-hole in the Diamondbacks lineup.

Drury was originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 13th round of the 2010 draft. In 2013, Drury was traded to the Diamondbacks with Nick Ahmed, Randall Delgado, and Martin Prado in exchange for Justin Upton. Drury was always an above-average hitter in the minor leagues with a slash line of .285/.334/.440 over 638 games.

In 94 plate appearances, Drury has only drawn two walks compared to striking out 17 times. Entering play on May 5, Drury was batting .321 with a .566 slugging percentage against four-seam fastballs, cutters, and sinkers. Drury was also batting .500 against off-speed pitches, but a lowly .222 against breaking pitches, while still maintaining a .556 slugging percentage however.

Drury’s scouting report, according to MLB.com, is as follows:

"Drury gets his entire body in his swing. He has average bat speed, but the effort and strength in his approach help him drive the ball… More a gap hitter than a home run threat at this point, Drury’s power should emerge as he continues to refine his game… Drury has good hands and projects to be an average defender…  Drury is a gritty player with improving pitch selection and patience at the plate. His pitch recognition is much better than in previous years as he looks for more pitches he can drive. Drury should continue to hit for a solid big league average. His on-base percentage will benefit as he continues to see more pitches."

Drury made a friend on Wednesday night in Miami when he went sliding into the right field stands to make a diving catch.

The fan posted the selfies onto his Twitter account as well…

Next: Diamondbacks Snap Six-Game Losing Streak

Game two of the Diamondbacks three-game series against the Braves will start at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday with Shelby Miller (0-3, 8.49) looking to right the ship against Julio Teheran (0-3, 3.72). You can catch the game on Fox Sports Arizona.