J.D. Drew (turns 33 in November)
2008: .280 batting, .408 on-base, .519 slugging
2007: .270 batting, .373 on-base, .423 slugging
2006: .283 batting, .393 on-base, .498 slugging
Oh, J.D. Drew.
No one divides Red Sox fans quite like Drew. To many, he's a fragile, lazy, dispassionate outfielder who just happens to have Theo Epstein as the president of his fan club. To others, he's an on-base machine with an ability to hit for power, too, a perfect weapon in the middle of a lineup already including David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis.
Even his career comparisons on baseball-reference.com seem bipolar. His career comparisons include stars like Vernon Wells and Al Rosen as well as comparatively mediocre talents like Glenallen Hill and Aubrey Huff. Heck, even Trot Nixon is on that list.
So what is he, really?
Among American Leaguers with at least 450 plate appearances, he ranked third in on-base percentage behind only Milton Bradley (.436) and Joe Mauer (.413). He ranked 11th in slugging percentage, right behind Josh Hamilton (.530) and Vladmir Guerrero (.521).
And in on-base-plus-slugging (OPS), here's the American League leaderboard:
* Milton Bradley, .999
* Alex Rodriguez, .965
* Carlos Quentin, .965
* Kevin Youkilis, .958
* J.D. Drew, .927
Among those behind Drew on the OPS leaderboard from last season: Hamilton, Guerrero, Miguel Cabrera, Grady Sizemore, Evan Longoria, Justin Morneau and Magglio Ordonez.
Now, Drew hasn't been healthy enough to do that on a consistent basis. He's had 500 plate appearances just three times in his career -- including the 2007 season in which he managed just a .796 OPS, good for 47th in the American League.
But he had an awfully impressive season last season, and way under the radar, too. Ask your average Red Sox fan to name the two players on the roster who were among the top five hitters in the American League last season, and you're going to hear them mention Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia most of the time. You're not likely to hear Drew's name very often -- and, in many ways, for good reason. He only played in 109 games and only hit 19 home runs and only drove in 64 runs.
If you consider that a hitter's job is to get on base and hit for power, though, few did their jobs better than Drew last season.
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1 comment:
"To many, he's a fragile, lazy, dispassionate outfielder who just happens to have Theo Epstein as the president of his fan club. To others, he's an on-base machine with an ability to hit for power, too, a perfect weapon in the middle of a lineup already including David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis."
I could have sworn you were talking about Manny Ramirez for a second. ;)
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