The White Sox introduced Friday that they’ve signed infielders Brandon Drury and Tristan Grey to minor league contracts. Each might be in main league camp as non-roster invitees to spring coaching.
Drury, a Wasserman consumer, is a veteran of ten main league seasons who’s suited up for seven groups alongside the way in which. The 32-year-old has had a number of productive stretches, most not too long ago hitting .263/.313/.493 with 58 residence runs over 1179 plate appearances within the three-year interval from 2021-23. Drury was excellent in a brief look with the 2021 Mets and in a lengthier look with the Reds and Padres in 2022. He parlayed that right into a two-year, $17MM take care of the Angels and seemed like a shrewd pickup in 12 months one among that deal after he batted .262/.306/.497 with 26 homers (his second straight season topping 25 round-trippers).
The 2024 marketing campaign, nonetheless, was a nightmare. Drury hit solely .169/.242/.228 in 360 plate appearances. He noticed a significant spike in pop-ups and grounders, along with his 57.1% ground-ball price spiking by 15 proportion factors over his 2023 ranges. Nobody in baseball (min. 300 plate appearances) put a better proportion of batted balls on the bottom than Drury. For a participant whose dash velocity ranked within the 18th percentile of massive leaguers, per Statcast, that’s an clearly alarming and suboptimal pattern.
Defensively, Drury can transfer throughout the diamond. He’s performed all 4 infield positions and each outfield corners, with the majority of his time coming between second base and third base. On the entire, defensive metrics like Outs Above Common and Defensive Runs Saved really feel Drury’s physique of labor at second base, third base and first base have been strong, if unspectacular. He did log below-average grades in 2024, although he was hampered by a hamstring pressure and a prolonged bout with an higher respiratory sickness that knocked him out of motion for almost two weeks and will’ve had some influence on his play on both finish of that an infection.
Grey, a BJB Group consumer, has logged temporary MLB appearances with the 2023 Rays and the 2024 Marlins. He’s gone simply 5-for-33 with a homer in that tiny pattern, although there’s little to be gleaned from what quantities to a few week’s price of MLB at-bats. The 28-year-old has proven loads of thump in Triple-A. He popped 33 homers with the Rays’ Durham affiliate in 2022 and slugged one other 30 massive flies the next 12 months. In elements of 4 Triple-A seasons, Grey is a .238/.306/.472 hitter.
Like Drury, he brings some infield versatility to the desk. He’s performed all 4 infield positions. In contrast to Drury, nonetheless, his most frequent spot has been shortstop, giving him much more defensive utility. He’s performed almost 2500 innings at brief, greater than 1400 at third base, greater than 1300 at second base and simply over 900 at first base. There are some strikeout considerations, however Grey is a left-handed hitter who can transfer to any spot on the infield and has proven 30-homer pop within the minors.
For a Sox membership with little to no infield certainty each gamers are a smart match on a non-guaranteed deal. Andrew Vaughn is locked in at first base, however that’s about the one spot that’s set in stone (and even he may swap to DH if want be; he’s not a powerful defender). Free agent signee Josh Rojas will seemingly deal with third base, however he’s loads conversant in taking part in second if the Sox choose to offer another person a take a look at third. Lenyn Sosa, Brooks Baldwin, Jacob Amaya and prime prospect Colson Montgomery are the one center infielders on the 40-man roster. Montgomery will open the season within the minors, leaving the opposite three as de facto front-runners at shortstop and second base. Drury or Grey may feasibly work their approach into that group with good showings throughout spring coaching.
