Phil Savage Replaces Kenny Stabler in Alabama
June 17, 2009The Jake? The Prog? Gateway?
June 17, 2009Remember this guy? The Lake County outfielder who homered off Roger Clemens when the 7-time Cy Young winner was rehabbing for the Lexington Legends? That one guy who was mentioned in the 2008 book entitled Facing Clemens just because of one swing of the bat against a future MLB Hall of Famer?
Well the 2005 supplemental first-rounder out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, CA is back in the spotlight again here in 2009. His recent outburst with the Akron Aeros is three years in the making, but the clock is still ticking on the 22-year-old who seems to be rejuvenated by his recent stint in Double-A. This season, Drennen began the year with Akron but struggled and hit only .191 in his first 21 games with 1 home run and 10 RBI. He was sent back down to Kinston May 12th, the fourth straight season he had appeared for the K-Tribe.
The record for most games played for the Indians Carolina League affiliate is 383 by Rodney Choy Foo, and Drennen was close to approaching that number last month. In 17 more games for Kinston which brought his career total officially up to 296, the 5’11” right fielder batted .270 with a much improved .395 on-base percentage. It seemed like the additional fine tuning helped him to become more prepared for the adjustments necessary in Double-A, as he was promoted back to Akron June 1st when the Aeros were short a few players on their 24-men roster.
Ready for his sick nasty June stat line? Here it is: 14 games played = .346 AVG, 7 2B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, .393 OBP, .635 SLUG, four multi-hit games, and four multi-RBI games
Drennen is now riding an Akron season-high eight-game hitting streak, and is absolutely tearing up the Eastern League since his return. His batting average ranks eighth, tied for fifth in home runs, first in RBI and second in total bases. While the Aeros are the only team in the league without a single 10-game hitting streak this season despite leading the league at 41-21, Drennen looks like he could be the one to break the barrier this week as Akron takes on New Hampshire and Portland. The Aeros have been red-hot recently, winning eight out of ten to increase their division lead to 4.5-games ahead of the Reading Phillies, and Drennen is a big reason why.
As a Indians fan, it is just really nice to see success stories like this one, where after posting a career .246 batting average in all that time with Kinston, Drennen looks like he is finally starting to turn around. Considering he is only 22-years-old, and has the potential to be a five-tool player, the ceiling is pretty high for this hard hitting right fielder with decent speed. Here is to continued success over the rest of the season for John Drennen!
6 Comments
How much are those “league based” stats skewed by guys that have been moved to their respective Columbus affiliate? Just curious…
Great work, JR. I love hearing about guys that don’t get a lot of coverage.
Scott, what do you mean their respective Columbus affiliate? As in how many of the Eastern League leaders in the month of June have been moved up to Triple-A?
Should’ve said “Triple A affiliate.”
Yea… Like Drennen has great numbers compared to others in Double-A. But what’s the population? Does it include guys that are no longer in Double-A? Survivorship bias, if you will…
“His batting average ranks eighth, tied for fifth in home runs, first in RBI and second in total bases.”
I guess that is the line you are referring to in the article. And all of those numbers are current as of qualified hitters in the Eastern League (12-teams) during the month of June. In order to be qualified for batting average, the only rate statistic of those above, a hitter has to have a minimum of 2.7 plate appearances per team game. That should exclude all of the random outliers..
His 16 RBI and 7 doubles both are the most for any player in the Indians Player Development System during the month of June. Four players are tied for second among Indians players in the Majors and minors with 11 RBI, while Adam Abraham (Lake County) and Beau Mills (Akron) are second with 5 doubles each in June.
Ah, Scott. I guess I just figured out what you mean.
“His batting average ranks eighth, tied for fifth in home runs, first in RBI and second in total bases DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE IN THE EASTERN LEAGUE.”
That is what the line should read, since John Drennen’s season-long numbers between Kinston and Akron only are .262 AVG/3 HR/31 RBI/18 2B in 52 games played.
Just another guy who will hit .250 and not be a superstar or even a 10 year player for the Tribe. Big deal.