Tag Archives: Brandon Drury

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE FINAL GOES SATURDAY

AFL_newThe Arizona Fall League will crown a champion on Saturday when the final takes place starting at 1:08 MT. The Salt River Rafters (17-11-4) will take on the Peoria Javelinas (15-14-3) in a meeting of East vs. West division champions.

The two teams break down to major league affiliations this way:

SALT RIVER RAFTERS – Diamondbacks, Rockies, Astros, Marlins, Twins
PEORIA JAVELINAS – Braves, Indians, Royals, Cardinals, Rays

So, only the Salt River club has Cal League ties at this point. Here are the starting lineups for Saturday’s finale, with the recent Cal League players linked to their AFL stat page:

SALT RIVER
8 Marzilli (VIS ’13, ’14)
D Sclafani
7 Rosario
2 O’Brien
9 Kepler
6 Bohn
3 Casteel (MOD ’13)
5 Drury (VIS ’14)
4 Featherston (MOD ’13)
1 DeSclafani

PEORIA
6 Mondesi
4 Valera
9 Salcedo
D Stanley
5 Dozier
2 O’Conner
3 Wilson
8 Starling
7 Carter
1 Almonte

MLB Network goes live with the Championship Game at 3PM ET. Here’s one more chance to see these elite prospects in action prior to 2015’s Spring Training.

Check back here for a look at how some of the recent Cal Leaguers did in the AFL.

WINKER, DRURY SWINGING IT IN ‘ZONA

Surprise-SaguarosOF Jesse Winker (BAK ’14) tore a tendon in his right wrist in July while playing for AA Pensacola, but the Reds’ #2 organizational prospect is back at it with the Arizona Fall League’s Surprise Saguros. Winker went 2-for-3 Wednesday night with a homer and a double as he paced his club to an 8-2 victory over the Peoria Javelinas.

In 53 games with the Bakersfield Blaze this past season, Winker, a 2012 compensation pick, slashed .317/.426/.580 with 13 homers in 205 ABs.

In the same game, 1B Kyle Waldrop (BAK ’13, ’14) went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and a run scored for Surprise. DH Hunter Renfroe (LE ’14) went 1-for-5 with an RBI batting behind Waldrop and before Winker.

Brandon Drury (VIS ’14), the Diamondbacks’ #6 prospect, launched a homer in a 6-3 win for the Salt River Rafters over the Scottsdale Scorpions. This game featured an especially strong mix of elite prospects as Salt River’s top three in the batting order went like this:

OF Byron Buxton – 2-for-5, 1 R
DH Brandon Drury – 1-for-5, HR, RBI
2B Trevor Story (MOD ’13, ’14) – 2-for-4, 2B, RBI

Beyond that trio, P Mark Appel (LAN ’14) went three innings as the starter for Salt River, OF Andrew Aplin (LAN ’12, ’13) went 1-for-5 with a run scored, also for the Rafters, and Daniel Carbonell (SJ ’14) walked as a pinch-hitter for Scottsdale.

 

ROAD TRIP: VISALIA

IMG_4752Visalia sits just about dead-center of the sprawling California League, a couple of hundred miles south and east of San Jose and about 250 miles north of Lake Elsinore. Saturday night I took the trip down Hwy 99 to Recreation Park to see the Rawhide take on the Lake Elsinore Storm and it was a true California League game on the field. The weather couldn’t have been better and the park was jammed with 2,623 fans who saw a real fireworks show, early and late.

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DIVISION RACES HEATING UP

CLBoth divisions are seeing compelling races for the first-half title with Visalia a game up on Bakersfield in the North and High Desert up by the same margin over Lancaster in the South.

NORTH DIVISION

The Blaze got out of the gates fast and have had two players recognized with Cal League weekly honors in 1B Marquez Smith and P Ben Lively. After last night’s action, Bakersfield has a 14-6 record. But Visalia has shot past them to the top of the North division by winning six straight and nine of it’s last 10 to post a 15-5 mark.

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INTERVIEW: BRANDON DRURY

Photo: MiLB.com

Photo: MiLB.com

Brandon Drury is playing 3B and batting in the #3 hole for the Visalia Rawhide this season. Selected by the Braves in the 13th round of the 2010 draft, Baseball America now has Drury ranked as the Diamondback’s #10 organizational prospect.

The Diamondbacks acquired Drury in the trade that sent Justin Upton to Atlanta and Martin Prado to Arizona. After a down year at loA in the SAL in 2012 (.229/.270/.333), Drury repeated the level in 2013, only in the Midwest League, with breakout results: .302/.362/.500, 15 homers and 51 doubles.

I had a chance to talk to Brandon Drury at Recreation Park in Visalia just before the 2014 season kicked off:

YOU CAME OVER TO THE DIAMONDBACKS FROM THE BRAVES. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE, BEING TRADED WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP IN THE BRAVES ORGANIZATION?
It was definitely weird, especially being signed at the young age of 17 so all I knew was the Braves. So then, to wake up in the morning and get traded to the Diamondbacks it kind of shocked me a little bit but, at the same time, it is an honor to be traded for a guy like Justin Upton.

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RAWHIDE 2014 ROSTER SET

VRThe opening day roster for the Visalia Rawhide has been announced, highlighted by Diamondbacks prospects 3B Brandon Drury and RH closer Jimmy Sherfy. The Rawhide open the 2014 season on Thursday April 3 at Recreation Park against the Stockton Ports.

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