A $14 Million September

By Daniel Rathman
Entering Saturday night’s game, there were five American League hitters with a higher September OBP than the Red Sox’s J.D. Drew (.441). Their names: David Ortiz, Jorge Posada, Carlos Pena, Alex Rodriguez, and Magglio Ordonez. You’d be hard-pressed to find better company. This is the J.D. Drew Theo thought he was getting when he inked Drew to a five-year deal in the offseason — a $14 million player who can carry a team with his terrific talent.
Overall, Drew is now hitting .270 with a semi-respectable (if he weren’t making $14 million a year) .796 OPS on the season. He now has 11 homers and 45 extra-base hits this year, after a 3-for-4 effort against the Twins on Saturday night. Facing Carlos Silva in yesterday’s game, Drew tripled and scored the Sox’s first run in the fourth inning. He then added a three-run blast in the sixth, keying a four-run Boston rally that sparked the Sox to a crucial victory. (The Red Sox clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with the win, and the Royals’ upset of Cleveland.)
In the month of September, the 31 year-old Drew is batting a robust .342/.454/.618 with four homers and 18 RBIs in 23 games. Drew has also compiled an excellent 18/15 BB/K ratio this month, showing an excellent eye and upping his season walk total to 79. Together with a slugging David Ortiz, who has been, by many standards, the best hitter in baseball over the past month, Drew has carried the Sox and helped them overcome the untimely injuries of Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis.
With the return of Manny and Youk, Drew’s importance has not decreased in the slightest. The playoffs are just around the corner — so close, in fact, that I’m already dreading the copious amounts of Tim McCarver that FOX will inflict on us — and Drew could be the October X-factor for the Sox. David Ortiz excluded, the Red Sox didn’t have a single true lefthanded threat in the lineup during Drew’s lengthy midseason slump. Sure, Mike Lowell fared admirably against righties, but even Mikey’s terrific 2007 couldn’t make up for Drew’s struggles.
In the Sox’s opening series against the Halos, Drew could play a huge role. All three of Anaheim’s top starters — John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, Jered Weaver — are righthanders, and that should play right into the Red Sox’s hands, now that the heart of our lineup has another potent lefty to complement Big Papi. If Drew, Manny, and Youk stay healthy and play as well as we know they can, Boston’s 3-4-5-6-7 combination of Papi-Manny-Drew-Lowell-Youk is as good as any in baseball.
Drew’s excellent September has capped a frustrating transition year during which he had to deal not only with the NL-to-AL transition, but also with his young son’s health troubles. He has proven to Red Sox Nation that he’s not worthless, and he has at times looked very much like a $14 million a year player.
If J.D. Drew can keep hitting like this in October, all of the chokes and slumps that plagued him throughout this season will be forgiven and forgotten.
You know you can do it, Drew. Just put your mind to it, and make it happen.
(By the way, Dave B, you owe me one.) … Just kidding.