Brandon Drury

Career

Drury attended Grants Pass High School in Oregon, playing shortstop, and committed to Oregon State University. The Atlanta Braves selected him in the 13th round of the 2010 draft. He signed and debuted with the Gulf Coast Braves, hitting .198/.248/.292 with three home runs in 192 at-bats. In 2011, playing for the Danville Braves of the rookie-level Appalachian League, he batted .347/.367/.525 with eight home runs in 265 at-bats over 63 games, earning league MVP honors alongside Eddie Rosario. The next season, with the Rome Braves of the Single-A South Atlantic League, he hit .229/.270/.333 with six home runs in 445 at-bats.

On January 24, 2013, the Braves traded Drury, Martín Prado, Randall Delgado, Zeke Spruill, and Nick Ahmed to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Justin Upton and Chris Johnson. In his first Diamondbacks organization season, playing for the South Bend Silver Hawks, he appeared in 134 games and hit .302/.362/.500 with 15 home runs. He began 2014 with the Visalia Rawhide of the High-A California League and was promoted in August to the Mobile BayBears of the Double-A Southern League, finishing with a .299 average, 23 home runs, and 95 RBI. After the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League for the Salt River Rafters.

In 2015, Drury was invited to spring training and assigned to Mobile to start the season. On June 23, he was promoted to the Reno Aces of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. The Diamondbacks called him up to the majors on September 1, and he made his debut that day, collecting his first major league hit, a single off Colorado Rockies pitcher Jon Gray. He hit his first home run on September 22 off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Adam Liberatore. During spring training in 2016, he was mentioned as a possible backup outfielder and made the Opening Day roster. He started occasionally in the outfield, second base, and third base. On June 19, despite hitting .275/.313/.456, he was optioned to Reno to clear a roster spot for Shelby Miller. He was recalled on June 24 after outfielder Socrates Brito fractured a toe on his right foot.