Diamondbacks' Brandon Drury: Focussing on second base
Drury could be in line to see a lot of time at second base in 2017, MLB.com's Steve Gilbert reports. "We're going to try and get as many at-bats for our best players, so he would be one of those," general manager Mike Hazen said.
The new leadership team has expressed a desire to improve the outfield defense, play Jake Lamb almost every day at third base, and get Drury as many at-bats as possible, which leads to the idea that he could win the starting job at second base during spring training. Drury played primarily in the outfield last season, despite playing only third base and second base in the minors. Despite the position change, he still posted a .282/.329/.458 slash line with 16 home runs in 499 plate appearances, and he could possibly improve upon those numbers if his defensive responsibilities are simplified. Chris Owings, Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed will be competing for the shortstop job in spring training, and whoever loses out will likely also be considered at second base, but based on his production in 2016 and the statements from the new brass, Drury appears to have the inside track.
