As the injuries mount up for the Atlanta Braves and they look for some bats to replace them with, Brandon Drury makes a ton of sense for multiple reasons.
One of my first memories from the Atlanta Braves 2022 season was Brandon Drury delivering a crushing blow on Opening Day with a 3-run homer off Collin McHugh.
As the season went on, it seemed like Drury’s name kept coming up in the highlights on TV as he continued to hit home runs.
Now he’s turned himself into one of the more desirable trade targets at the deadline and a nice little trade chip for the Cincinnati Reds who have several players who could be getting shipped off over the next week-plus.
But Brandon Drury is the one I have my eyes on as he fits a lot of needs the Atlanta Braves currently have with the absences of Ozzie Albies and Adam Duvall.
Braves Trade Target: Why Brandon Drury Makes Sense
Other than playing great defense, which likely won’t be replaced at this deadline, Duvall also gave you great right-handed pop from the right side.
Drury certainly gives you that with 18 home runs on the year and a .509 slugging percentage over his last two seasons.
But what makes Drury even more attractive is his versatility. He’s played every position in the field other than center field and catcher.
The 29-year-old is not a gold glover at any one particular position, but he’s serviceable.
Atlanta could stick him at second base until Ozzie is ready and then play him in left field against lefties when he’s back.
And when he’s not starting, he becomes a dangerous right-handed bat off the bench against lefties as he has a 1.052 OPS against left-handed pitchers this year.
He’s a free agent after season’s end, so the asking price can’t be too high. But that’s also what makes him such a highly sought-after trade deadline target.
If it comes to a bidding war, Alex Anthopoulos will probably move on. But Drury does fit a lot of the needs the Braves have and I’d be willing to give up one of the several backend starter prospects in the system for his services the rest of the year.