Reds infielder Brandon Drury has reached a new level as a power hitter

In the bottom of the fifth inning on Friday night, Cincinnati Reds third baseman Brandon Drury had a 3-0 count against San Francisco Giants starter Carlos Rodón.

Drury was looking for the high fastball. He knew that he had the power to do damage against Rodón’s fastball, so Drury had the green light to swing in a 3-0 count.

Drury got what he was looking for, and he crushed it for a solo home run over the left field fence. It was Drury’s eighth home run of the season, which is the most on the Reds in 2022, and it was a continuation of Drury’s emergence as a power hitter this season.

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“I feel like I have a lot of power, but I can take hits the other way too,” Drury said. “It’s something I’m battling, trying to put it all together where I’m more consistent with what I’m doing every day. Sometimes I see the shift, want to take my hit the other way and I’m always fighting myself because I can hit a homer. It’s something to keep learning from.”

Entering Saturday’s game, Drury leads the Reds in slugging and ranks 12th in the National League in that area. He’s having the best stretch as a power hitter that he has had in his eight-year career.

Drury, 29, has eight home runs, 26 RBI and a .493 slugging percentage in 2022. He has never hit at that pace as a power hitter in his career.

“I feel like I still have a lot to prove,” Drury said. “It’s been a solid start, but at the same time, I’m very hungry to prove who I really am as a baseball player.”

Drury has over 1,700 at-bats in MLB, and he has been a contact-first hitter for most of them. As a rookie in 2016, Drury hit .286 with the Arizona Diamondbacks with a .458 slugging percentage. Before 2022, that was the best season of Drury’s career.

Even though he has hardly missed time in his career due to injuries, Drury has never had a season with more than 16 home runs or 63 RBI. In 2022, Drury is on pace to shatter those season-highs. Just past the quarter-mark of the season, Drury already has eight home runs, 10 doubles and 26 RBI.

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“It’s really difficult to appreciate how good of a player he is until you see him every day,” Reds manager David Bell said. “I do believe he’s exceeded the expectations. He’s a really good player. Probably, offensively, he’s exceeded it a little bit. Defensively, and the other parts of the game, how he is around here, that’s really been impressive.”

Drury was in the Reds’ starting lineup on Opening Day, and he got most of his playing time near the start of his season due to his defense. Drury joined the Reds with a reputation as a standout defensive third baseman, but he had bad seasons on offense between 2018 and 2021.

During that stretch, Drury hit .214, and extra-base hits were rare. He signed with the Reds in spring training as a non-roster invitee. Two months later, he’s established as the No. 2 hitter in the lineup.

“It comes from putting good swings on good pitches,” Drury said. “If you hit the barrel, with as hard as (pitchers) throw these days, it’s going to go. It’s more about hitting the ball square. It’s still early too. There’s a lot of room for improvement as well. To have eight home runs is exciting, but I feel there’s still a lot more in the tank.”

FIRST BASE OPTIONS: Since the Reds optioned Colin Moran to Triple-A on Friday, the Reds don’t have a traditional backup first baseman on the roster behind Joey Votto. While Votto will continue to make the majority of starts at first base, Bell said Mike Moustakas, Drury and Matt Reynolds are among the backup options when Votto needs a day off.

MINOR LEAGUE MOVES: At the Major League level, the Reds have had the depth of their starting rotation tested with Nick Lodolo, Connor Overton and Justin Dunn on the injured list. After the Reds called up a few pitchers from Triple-A, they signed two starters on minor league deals to pitch for the Louisville Bats.

The Reds signed left-handed starter Justin Nicolino and right-handed starter Deck McGuire to minor league deals, and both pitchers reported to Triple-A. Nicolino was a starter for the Miami Marlins from 2015 to 2017 and was pitching in an independent league this year. McGuire, who pitched for the Reds in 2017, was also pitching in an independent league before signing with the Reds.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Brandon Drury has reached a new level as a power hitter for Reds