Indians Top 100 Prospects: #71 John Drennen

71. John Drennen - Outfielder
Born: 08/26/1986 - Height: 5'11" - Weight: 185 - Bats: Left - Throws: Left

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005	18	Burlington	R	51	168	24	40	7	1	8	29	18	37	6	.238	.325	.435	.760
2006	19	Lake County	A	67	240	33	77	12	3	6	30	31	52	6	.321	.409	.471	.880
	19	Kinston	A+	31	113	15	27	6	2	0	8	12	21	2	.239	.328	.327	.655
2007	20	Kinston	A+	131	496	72	126	25	2	13	77	53	104	6	.254	.336	.391	.727
2008	21	Kinston	A+	117	460	71	108	27	1	3	39	46	73	5	.235	.313	.317	.630
		Career		397	1477	215	378	77	9	30	183	160	287	25	.256	.339	.381	.720

History: Drennen was a supplemental 1st round pick in the 2005 Draft out of Rancho Bernardo High (CA). Knowing he had a scholarship in hand to attend and play at UCLA, the Indians quickly signed Drennen for $1 million.

Strengths & Opportunities: Drennen has a compact build with good power and also creates a nice smooth bat path with his swing. However, as he has matured he has not developed the power some in the organization thought he would when they drafted him and is still more of a gap hitter. He is an extremely hard, intelligent worker with a motor that does not stop, and is very aggressive at the plate, on the bases and in the field. He has also proven to be a very durable player, missing only a few weeks of action in 2006 with a thumb injury. His playing style, build and ability often has been compared to Jeremy Reed, and some have compared him to former Indian Brian Giles.

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 him the last two years 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 does a lot of damage on the inside part of the plate, but pitchers have made the adjustment against him and just stay on the outside part of the plate which has given him trouble. He has struggled a lot with recognizing the changeup. He is still working 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. He has good instincts as a runner, but only has slightly above average speed and needs to continue to work on his defense and baserunning. 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: Drennen returned for his third season in Kinston for the 2008 season, but his numbers took a nosedive. The dramatic decline in his numbers in his third year at the same level begins to make you wonder if he has simply reached his ceiling or that his heart may no longer be in it. There is no doubt that he may have been frustrated having to return to Kinston for a third straight year, but with numbers like he had in 2008 and no signs of development or improvement he now could very well find himself on the bubble and a potential roster casualty by the end of spring training. The Indians have a plethora of good outfield prospects in the upper levels of the organization, so he is going to have to work hard in spring training to stick in the organization and salvage his career, or risk being released and just end up being "that minor leaguer who hit a home run off Roger Clemens " a few years ago. In any case, he needs to be moved up to Double-A Akron in 2009 to see if it puts a spark into him and saves his career, and the guess here is he will get that chance and will open the 2009 season in the Akron outfield.

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr

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