John Drennen

John Drennen - Outfielder
Age: 21 Height: 6'0" Weight: 190 Bats: Left Throws: Left

	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	OBP	SLG	OPS
2007 Kinston	.254	131	496	72	126	25	2	13	77	53	104	6	.336	.391	.727
Career	.265	280	1017	144	269	50	8	27	144	114	214	20	.350	.409	.759

History: The Indians snatched Drennen up with their supplemental pick in the 1st round of the 2005 Draft out of Rancho Bernardo High in San Diego, which has produced a ton of elite high school prospects of late. Knowing Drennen had a scholarship in hand to attend and play at UCLA, the Indians quickly signed Drennen for $1 million. He also made national headlines in June of 2006 when he hit a tape measure home run off future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens.

Strengths & Opportunities: The Indians selected Drennen because they loved his advanced bat and polished approach to hitting. Drennen has a compact build with good power, and also creates a nice smooth bat path with his swing. Although he is somewhat undersized, he packs a lot of punch in his swing and has good pop and a dynamite bat. Right now, he is more a gap hitter, but as he matures he is expected to develop more power. Drennen buffed up some last winter packing on 20 pounds of weight and came into camp in great shape, and this offseason he set goals to continue to work on improving his strength, speed and agility.

Drennen is an extremely hard worker and is very aggressive at the plate, on the bases and in the field. He is an intelligent player, and is an energy player with a motor that does not stop. Aside from a thumb injury he suffered in 2006 that caused him to miss a few weeks of action, Drennen has proven to be a durable player. According to one national league scout, for Drennen's young age he handled the Carolina League well, the ball jumps off his bat and he could be a good left fielder. His playing style, build and ability often has been compared to Jeremy Reed, and some have compared him to former Indian Brian Giles.

In his return trip to Kinston last year, Drennen fared much better as he hit .254 with 13 HR, 77 RBI and a .727 OPS in 131 games. Of note, he hit right-handers very well as he hit .292 with 11 HR, 65 RBI and an .820 OPS in 359 at bats. But, he really struggled against left-handers as he only hit .153 with 2 HR, 12 RBI and a .481 OPS in 137 at bats. While Drennen is a very good hitter, one of the main focal points with his development this coming season will be improving his approach against left-handed pitching.

Drennen is a bit showy at times and sometimes gets wrapped up thinking of the big ball at the plate, which sometimes leads to him trying to do too much with the bat. Kinston Hitting Coach Jon Nunnally worked closely with Drennen all year on getting him to calm down at the plate and keep his head down on the ball to drive it back through the middle of the field. He struggled for most of the early part of last year in recognizing the changeup, but he turned things around in the second half and carried it over to the Fall Development Program where he looked great and made very good progress.

Going into next year, the Indians will continue to work with Drennen on getting a better load at the plate so that he has more power overall and against left-handed pitching can drive balls the other way. Drennen also will continue to work on his defense and baserunning. He has good instincts as a runner, but only has slightly above average speed. His biggest weakness is his defense, as his arm is below average and his range in the outfield is limited, which will likely limit him to left field in the future.

Outlook: The Indians have a plethora of good outfield prospects in the upper levels of the organization. Due to his age and the players in front of him, Drennen will not be pushed and the focus will be more on developing a more consistent approach at the plate and see if his hitting potential comes to the surface. Since he will only be 21-years old at the start of next season it is possible he could start the year in Kinston again to continue his development and also because he is road-blocked by so many outfielders above him at Akron and Buffalo. That said, he likely will start the year in Akron.

Video: Drennen at the plate and taking batting practice.

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