Yankees: Is now the time to finally call Brandon Drury back up?

There isn’t a player in the Yankees system more deserving of a call-up than the red hot-hitting Brandon Drury. As he continues to rake down at Scranton Wilkes-Barre now might be the right time for him to finally rejoin the big league roster.

On any other team in baseball Brandon Drury would not be stuck on the Triple-A roster. He’d probably be playing every day and contributing at a high level. That was what the Yankees expected coming into this season when they acquired Drury to be their starting third basemen early in Spring Training.

Unfortunately for him, within two weeks of his first season with the Yanks, he was placed on the DL on April 8th with migraines and blurred vision. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time Drury experienced these issues but in year’s past, he found a way to play through it.

The injury sidelined him for over a month and during his absence rookie phenom, Miguel Andujar burst on to the scene to take hold of the starting third base job. Because Andujar played so well when given the opportunity to play every day the Yankees could not afford to send him back down when Drury returned. Andujar has played as big a role as anyone for the team’s success this season and now figures to have his hold on third base for years to come.

That left Drury trapped at Triple-A even after he proved that his problems with blurred vision were behind him. Since he’s been with Scranton for the past month and a half Drury has hit .360 and slugged .529 in 39 games. He’s done everything asked of him and that certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Why it’s time to call Drury back up

Drury’s professionalism through this tough situation has been admirable and it’s time the Yankees rewarded him with a call-up to the big league roster. Now that Ronald Torreyes is back at Triple-A after he was sent down for the second time this season on Monday, the Yankees could soon have an opening on the 25-man roster to replace him.

Clint Frazier was called up to replace Toe on the roster but this figures to be another short stint with the big league club for Red Thunder. Frazier is up to give the Yankees more outfield depth while Brett Gardner is day to day with knee inflammation. However, Gardner should be fine and once he returns to the lineup Frazier will likely be sent back down. Frazier himself has been outstanding down at Triple-A but it just doesn’t make sense to keep five outfielders on the roster.

Because Torreyes can’t be called back up for at least 10 days unless somebody goes on the DL  Drury could be called up later this week to fill in that utility role. There’s clearly nothing left for him to prove or accomplish down at Triple-A and this seems like a good time to bring him back up.

As good as Miguel Andujar has been he’s in the midst of his first real slump (2 for his last 23). That’s certainly not a large enough sample size for him to lose his job, but if Aaron Boone wants to give him a day off to recuperate Drury is a great option is to fill in.

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If he’s not going to play third base Drury could also slide over to first base to back up Greg Bird against lefty starters. He’s been getting some reps at first base recently and with Tyler Austin back at Triple-A and Neil Walker struggling batting from the right side the Yankees could find Drury some at-bats.

Should Drury get called up it’s still unlikely he’ll be given consistent at-bats but I’m sure at this point in the season all he cares about is getting back to the big leagues. He hasn’t been a distraction at Triple-A but clearly, he’s not happy about it and you can’t blame him. It has to be incredibly frustrating to be back in the minors when he knows he’s good enough to be on the major league roster.

This definitely hasn’t been the kind of season Drury was hoping for but he’s still a valuable part of the organization. If the Yankees call him up he not only could make an impact to help the team win some games but he could also showcase his talents to other teams and garner plenty of interest come the trade deadline.

Next: Why the Yankees can still win it all without trading for another starter

Drury is still young at 25 years old and has a very controllable contract so he could be a key piece in any potential trade the Yankees make for another starting pitcher. As I said before there’s nothing left for him to prove down at Triple-A so he could really increase his trade value if he can carry over that success to the big league level.

Now let’s just hope he gets that opportunity.