Amid trade rumors, Brandon Drury delivers again in possible last home game with Reds
Brandon Drury was playing the percentages when he hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning Sunday, possibly his last home game as a member of the Cincinnati Reds.
Facing Baltimore Orioles fireballer Félix Bautista, a reliever with a 101-mph fastball, Drury knew Bautista likes to lean on his splitter with two strikes. Drury had already whiffed on an elevated fastball and watched another for a called strike.
After watching two fastballs, Drury knew he needed to be ready for the splitter. And he was ready. Drury hammered a 372-foot homer to left field to lift the Reds to a 3-2 victory at Great American Ball Park.
Not a bad day for a guy who wasn’t even in the lineup, entering as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning.
“He’s having a helluva year,” Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo said. “Every at-bat, he goes up there and looks really comfortable. You don’t see very many wild or bad swings out of the guy. Every swing he takes looks like it has a good purpose to it.”
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Drury successfully played the percentages on his eighth-inning homer and he knows odds are he will be traded ahead of Tuesday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline. Drury is a free agent at the end of the season, and he’s already watched the Reds sent Tyler Naquin to the New York Mets and Luis Castillo to the Seattle Mariners for young prospects.
He carries a lot of value as a right-handed power bat who can play anywhere in the infield and in the corner outfield spots. He’s one of nine MLB players with at least 20 homers and 20 doubles, joining a list of sluggers that includes Paul Goldschmidt, Austin Riley, José Ramírez and Vladimir Guerrero.
“It’s definitely a little bit different because it could be a whole new clubhouse in a matter of a day,” said Drury, who has been traded three times in his career. “It’s definitely on my mind a little bit, but at the end of the day, whether I’m here or somewhere else, I get to keep playing baseball. That’s all I can control.”
The 29-year-old Drury, who is on a one-year, $900,000 contract, has reinvigorated his career with his breakout season. There weren’t many offers for Drury in the post-lockout frenzy. He hadn’t been a regular starter since 2019, playing in just 51 MLB games last year with the Mets.
Drury signed with the Reds on a minor-league contract during spring training after Reds shortstop Jose Barrero needed hamate surgery, but he was viewed as Triple-A depth. The Reds had some background on him because he was close to David Bell’s late brother, Mike, when he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Mike Bell was their farm director.
“He's showing the kind of player that he is, that he knows,” David Bell said. “He's been doing it all year now and it's going to keep going for him for years to come. He's figured a lot out.”
Drury, in 91 games, already has career highs in runs (62) and homers (20). He’s two walks and four RBI from matching other career highs, entering Monday with a 129 OPS+, which means he’s been 29% better than the league’s average hitter.
Does he feel like he’s unlocked something offensively that can help him for years to come?
“Some days I feel like that,” said Drury, drawing laughs.
He was one of the league’s best hitters in June, batting .333 with four doubles, eight homers and 14 RBI in 25 games. He hit .276 with eight doubles, four homers and 19 RBI in 26 games in July.
“It’s been pretty streaky, I think, as far as having good at-bats and bad at-bats,” he said. “When it’s good, I feel like it’s a very short swing where I’m trying to pull the ball. I think that the short swing allows me to see the ball longer and have time to react to the pitch. I think trying to pull the ball, while still letting it travel, is where the power is coming from because I’m not trying to stay inside it or hit the ball the other way. I’m trying to pull it, but I want it to come to me.”
Drury exudes a natural confidence. He’s not surprised by his success this season because he felt it was always there.
“Some days I do feel like I figured something out and I get real hot,” Drury said, “then the next day, it feels hard again. I think that’s just baseball. It’s a really, really hard game. I do feel like there has been some stuff that I figured out this year that is going to help me with my career moving forward. I just have to find a way to be more consistent.”
Drury’s time with the Reds may be coming to an end with several contenders showing interest, and if Sunday was his last home game, he delivered one final highlight. During his on-field postgame interview, teammates Jonathan India and Kyle Farmer showered him with water from the Powerade coolers.
“When you get to know players, you understand who they are, you understand what they’re going through, you understand what they’ve been through and all the work they’re putting in, there’s nothing better,” Bell said. “I couldn’t be happier for him.”