Talking with: J.D. Drew | Blue Notes - A Dodgers Blog

I specifically remember my reaction to hearing that the Dodgers signed J.D. Drew to a long term contract. I found it to be a head scratcher, especially considering they just turned down Adrian Beltre's demands. It's not that I thought Beltre was too good to lose (although I am surprised he's struggled so much in Seattle). But I couldn't wrap my head around not matching Seattle's 64 mil/5 years, but ponying up 55 mil to Drew over that same time period. Not that I don't think Drew's talented. Trust me, having watched him as a Cards fan, I knew fully well how good the guy can be. I also knew how often he seemed to get hurt, which made me wonder why L.A. wouldn't put a (relatively) small amount of money to sign a guy who'd likely play more games.

My wonders weren't put to bed last season after Drew spent time on and off the D.L. But he's healthy at the moment and producing rather well, leading the team in HR's and RBI's. If he's able to stay on the field, he'll likely be a huge asset for the team. Unfortunately, that's been a lot of "if," according to recent history. I talked with Drew last week week during the Cubs series and got a take on his quick start, how he defines leadership and his outlook for the season.

Andrew Kamenetzky: Given some of the issues that you've had with injuries in the past, is it a big load off your mind starting out this healthy and playing well?

J.D. Drew: Other than the 2 1/2 years I had with my knee injury in St. Louis, I've always started out healthy. The thing for me, and if you look back at the injury history, it's just freak incidents. Broken hand. Broken wrist last year. Those are things that you can't avoid. When I was in Atlanta, my knee was finally healed up and I played an entire season and was perfectly where I wanted to be. Hopefully that's where it will go this year.

AK: How frustrating are those freak injuries that no amount of conditioning could have prevented?

JD: There's nothing you can do. It's more disheartening than anything. I remember last year when they gave me the X-ray and I saw the broken bone, because at that point in the season, I was right where I wanted to be. I was swinging the bat great. You know what? It's just a thing that builds character, because you have to endure and keep persevering through those times. You gotta keep working. You can't shut everything down. I was doing the rehab and trying to get back in September. Unfortunately, it didn't work out, but carry it over and try to get off to good start this year.

AK: Grady said that he was going to specifically monitor your games in terms of maintaining your health. Are you happy with that solution you've come up with?

JD: Yeah. I think more than anything, I'm going to leave that up to Grady. Any time I look up there and my name is on that (lineup) card, that's important for me to go out there, get my work in and be focused. It's just one of those situations where you try to take those days off as a momentum builder where you catch your breath and keep rolling. It is such a long season. I think everybody's gonna get those kind of days in here. For guys to play 162 games, you just tip your cap to them. It's absolutely incredible. To watch what Ripken did for all those years, it makes it that much more amazing. So yeah, I think I am happy with the solution. When Grady comes up to me and says,"This is what we're going to do," he's got the game plan on what he's trying to accomplish. I'll just try to go out there and give him everything I've got.

AK: You've described yourself as less of a rah rah kind of guy and more of a one on one leader. Do you think some people actually respond more to that than the big speeches?

JD: Well, I can't say. But from my experience, I've learned more from guys who are "example on the field" kind of players. McGwire, when he played the game, he was not very rah rah and outspoken. He played the game hard. And then you play with guys that do stand up in certain situations when you do need to have that leadership. They're more vocal. And I think you do need to have people like that on the team. But I think more than anything, everybody's kind of watching the next guy push himself to the next level. That's definitely important.

AK: Do you ever get concerned that people may interpret the softspokeness in a leader as a lack of passion or being aloof?

JD: I think the key to the thing is you have to look at what kind of person he is, what his mentality is. And if you're taking into consideration, that's his personality, you've got to weigh in all those things. You can't just say, "this guy is this way or that way, he doesn't care about this or that," without knowing what kind of person he is. You've got guys that are more rambunctious and have got that vibrant kind of personality. And then you've got guys that are laid back, will just listen to everybody and just laugh. And that's just kind of my personality. I enjoy everybody. I love to play the game of baseball. And I get a kick out of guys that are more on that vocal side, because they do keep it more lighthearted and in good spirits. So it's fun. It all balances out.

AK: Do you have personal goals for the season?

JD: No, I've never really set personal goals. My goals have always been, on a daily basis, to focus on every at bat. And then when the season ends and you look back, if you've done those things, hopefully the numbers are there. I think everybody at some point in time is going, "Man, I'm not doing as well as I'd like." And sometimes you get too number oriented and you either push yourself too hard or not enough, rather than if you go out there every day and focus every single at bat and having the best at bat that you can. And hopefully, whenever it's all said and done, you're right there where you want to be.

AK: So you might not even know what your goals actually are until the end of the season.

JD: Yeah. Like I said, it's a situational based thing. If there's a guy on second base, there's two outs and you come up to bat, I'm gonna try to put a good swing on the ball. I'm not gonna go up there swinging for the fences... unless I can get a ball that I can (hit out). And if I do it the way I want to and hopefully accomplish what I'm trying to do, then there's your RBI and there's your base hit. So whenever the season wraps up and it's all said and done, you look back and your numbers are there because you pushed yourself every single at bat.

AK: Is it pretty satisfying for you the way the season has started out so far?

JD: Yeah. It's nice to get into a rhythm and get rolling. It's definitely better than 0-25. That's for sure.