Bordow: D-Backs' Drew looks like top-tier shortstop

Late in the 2007 season, Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes and San Diego GM Kevin Towers sat together at a game.

As Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew walked to the plate, his numbers flashed on the JumboTron above center field.

"I can't believe Drew is hitting .238," Towers said. "He has a lot of good at-bats."

That was a refrain often heard from the Diamondbacks last season.

Drew was hitting balls hard. He was a victim of bad luck. His batting average didn't reflect the kind of year he was having.

It's the kind of thing managers say to protect their players from criticism.

But maybe there was something to it. Drew is not the same player who hit .238 with 100 strikeouts and 60 walks last season.

He's become something completely different. Namely, one of the best shortstops in the game.

"It's the maturing process for him," Diamondbacks third-base/infield coach Chip Hale said. "... The first year-and-a-half in the big leagues, he was getting used to it.

"Offensively, he's growing at the rate we felt he could. Defensively, he's as solid as anyone in the league. Not flashy, but solid."

Drew, 25, emerged from relative obscurity this week when he hit for the cycle Monday against St. Louis, then keyed the Diamondbacks' game-winning rally Wednesday with a triple to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning.

But the truth is, Drew has been on a tear for the better part of two months. Since the All-Star break, he's hit .333 with a .372 on-base percentage. As the leadoff hitter - a role he reluctantly accepted - he's batting .315 with a .357 OBP.

His overall numbers - .288 with 16 homers, 11 triples, 37 doubles and 56 RBIs - are among the best at his position.

And then there's this eye-opener:

If Drew hits three more doubles and four more homers the final month of the season, he'll be only the third shortstop in major league history - along with Nomar Garciaparra and Robin Yount - to finish a season with at least 20 homers, 10 triples and 40 doubles.

"The fact that his numbers weren't as good as people expected in 2007 didn't change who we thought he was as a player," Byrnes said.

Drew, the 15th overall pick of the 2004 amateur draft, probably was rushed to the majors too quickly. He played in just 148 minor league games before making his major league debut in 2006.

But even when Drew was struggling last season, there never was a sense that he was in over his head.

He seemed as polished and mature in his approach as a .238 hitter can be. He seemed to know what the Diamondbacks suspected, that he would never hit .238 again.

"It feels good when the ball is falling for you," Drew said. "This year, they seem to be falling and it's a good feeling. The comfort level where I'm at right now, it feels pretty good."

That's a new world record: Three good feelings in one sentence.

As you might have guessed, Drew isn't the best interview on the club. He'd rather work than talk. But there are times when he's incredibly eloquent.

The day after the Diamondbacks acquired second baseman David Eckstein, manager Bob Melvin asked Drew if he'd like to move out of the leadoff spot.

"He said he's really comfortable there," Melvin said.

That afternoon, Drew went 5-for-5.