TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -Probably no shortstop in baseball hit any better than Stephen Drew in the last half of the 2008 season. It’s momentum that he intends to ride this spring.
“Last year I took a step back and tried to make hitting as simple as possible,” Drew said after the Arizona Diamondbacks practiced at their spring training facility on Monday. “I took it that way and it worked out. Hopefully coming into this year I learned a lot and can keep it going.”
Drew turns 26 on March 16 and already has 2 1/2 major league seasons behind him. The 15th overall pick in the 2004 draft, he didn’t sign until May of 2005 but was in the big leagues by July of 2006.
“I’m still young,” he said. “I want to always play that way. I don’t do anything flashy. I just want to go out there and play the game right.”
is family. All three brothers – J.D., Tim and Stephen – were first-round picks in the major league draft.
“Everyday after school when we got done with the school work, we’d go play,” he said. “That was instilled in us and got us to where we are today.”
Drew struggled at the plate in 2007, his first full season in the majors, batting .238. He recalls a string of bad luck, when he’d hit the ball hard but right to defenders.
That changed in the 2007 postseason, when he went 7-for-14 with two homers in the sweep of the Chicago Cubs, then hit .294 as one of the few bright spots when Arizona was swept by Colorado in the NLCS.
Getting it going last season took a while, but after the All-Star break, the left-handed batting Drew hit .313, mostly from the leadoff spot. The highlight came last Sept. 1, when he hit for the cycle against the St. Louis Cardinals.
For the season, Drew became the first shortstop since Robin Yount to hit 40 doubles (44), 10 triples (11) and 20 homers (21).
He credited his success to simply “seeing the ball well.”
“When you see it, then you can start working on your swing and what not,” he said. “If you’re seeing it, it really doesn’t matter who is throwing it.”
Newly signed free agent second baseman Felipe Lopez will take the leadoff spot from Drew, manager Bob Melvin said. Drew will be tried in the second and third slot this spring.
him to settle in, whatever that spot is,” Melvin said.
The next career step for the shortstop, Melvin said, is to “set your goals higher.”
“He got off to a little bit of a tough start the first month and a half or two months or so, then was about as good as you can get after that,” Melvin said. “His confidence going into the season should be high.”
Drew, represented by agent Scott Boras, becomes arbitration eligible after this season. Barring a long-term deal, which is unlikely given Boras’ track record, the Diamondbacks would control their star shortstop with a series of one-year contracts through 2012, then Drew would become a free agent.
If his early success is any indication, he should command a hefty price.
Add A Comment