Drury has had a season to endure
Injuries limited trade acquisition to 26 games with Yankees, Jays
He was ones the most high-profile gets of the Blue Jays’ wheeling and dealing around July’s trade deadline, but few eyes were batted when Brandon Drury’s season quietly came to an official end Wednesday.
The infielder, acquired from the New York Yankees in exchange for J.A. Happ ahead of the non-waiver deadline alongside lesser-known outfield prospect Billy McKinney, was placed on the 60-day disabled list Wednesday, a move that barely registered in the midst of the hoopla surrounding manager John Gibbons’ farewell to the city of Toronto.
Drury, 26, has not played since Aug. 4, three days before he was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a fractured left hand. The injury is thought to have occurred days before he became the key piece in the trade for Happ, but it wasn’t discovered until he was in a Jays uniform.
It limited Drury, who considers himself a third baseman, to just eight games for Toronto, in which he went 4-for-26 with two walks, three RBIs and eight strikeouts. After being hampered by a nerve in the back of his neck in the early months of the seasons with the Yankees, which caused blurred vision and severe migraines, Drury played just 26 big-league games this season, slashing a forgettable .169/.256/.260.
To say it wasn’t the year he had hoped for is an understatement.
“This season’s been crazy,” Drury said. “It’s not everything that I was working for in the off-season.”
Drury broke camp with the Yankees in March after joining the Bronx Bombers in February as part of a three-team trade. He was seen as a the player the Yankees needed to ease the pressure on prospects Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres to arrive. But he lasted just eight games before the nerve issue forced him to the sidelines.
When Drury arrived in Toronto, his preferred position at the hot corner was seemingly up for grabs with former third baseman Josh Donaldson on the disabled list. He was immediately added to the big-league roster. But the hand, injured after he was hit by a pitch, continued to hurt, ultimately signalling something more serious than just a bruise.
Drury doesn’t much like to talk about this season. He’s intent on looking forward, wiping the slate clean and using a lost 2018 as motivation for the future.
“I think it’s going to make me a better player, just knowing that I’ve been through such a frustrating year, that it’s going to make me hungrier going into the off-season for a big 2019,” he said.
Drury is now cast and brace free. He started taking swings in the batting cage and playing catch this week. The bone at the base of his fifth metacarpal is healing and he believes he’s on the right path.
Where he will play next season remains to be seen, said general manager Ross Atkins. Drury can also play at second base or in the outfield.
“It’ll depend largely on our off-season … but he was a big part of the acquisition and we’re really excited about not only what he’s already done but feel that there’s some upside to it,” Atkins said.
The future may be more clear for McKinney, who started his Jays career with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons before earning a call-up on Aug. 17. The 24-yearold outfielder, a first-round pick in 2013, has appeared in 33 of the Jays’ 41 games since then, hitting .264 with six home runs and 13 RBIs.
Jays fans have an idea what to expect from McKinney. Drury is more of an unknown. So what should Toronto’s supporters anticipate seeing from him next year if he’s healthy?
“A player that comes to play every day,” Drury said. “Never takes a pitch off. Hungry to help the team win ball games every day.”