Player Previews: J.D. Drew

Drew has silenced his critics.

Today we will look at J.D. Drew. Entering his fourth year in Boston, Drew will man RF while remaining a consistent bat in the line-up. We will focus on his 2009 statistics, his career highs in parentheses, and a 2010 outlook.

Games: 137 (146 - 2006)
Average: .279 (.323 - 2001, career average of .283)
On-Base Percentage: .392 (.436 - 2004, career average of .392)
Slugging Percentage: .522 (.613 - 2001, career average of .504)
On Base plus Slugging: .914 (1.027 - 2001, career average of .896)
Home runs: 24 (31 - 2004)
Runs Batted In: 68 (100 - 2006)
Runs: 84 (118 - 2004)
Doubles: 30 (34 - 2006)
Walks: 82 (118 - 2004)
UZR/150* in RF: +15.7

*UZR/150 is a sabermetric number of runs above or below average a fielder is, per 150 defensive games. Zero is an average fielder.


2010 Outlook: J.D. Drew is as steady as they come, when he's healthy. During his three years in Beantown, he has played in 140, 109, and 137 games respectively and has avoided big injuries for the most part. His value lies in his ability to have productive, long, grind-em-out type of at-bats and getting on base at a .390 clip. In addition, his career slugging percentage (total bases/at-bats) of .504 is very solid. Drew ranks well above average in the sabermetrics UZR/150 amongst right fielders.

Hopefully Drew can stay healthy this season and continue to put up his very solid all -around numbers. He should bat either 5th or 6th in the line-up.

Previous previews:
Kevin Youkilis
Dusin Pedroia
Jacoby Ellsbury
Marco Scutaro
Victor Martinez
David Ortiz