Two weeks ago Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew admitted that missing the beginning of the season was a possibility as he recovers from last year’s broken ankle and now Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic takes it one step further.
Piecoro writes that no one has ruled out Drew being ready for the opener, but “the clock’s ticking ... looks very unlikely to me.”
Piecoro added that “Drew hasn’t done much in the way of running the bases, hasn’t faced live pitching, hasn’t slid.”
On the other hand, manager Kirk Gibson said that the Diamondbacks plan to “push him pretty good this week” in an effort to see exactly where Drew stands with the season less than a month away. John McDonald and Willie Bloomquist are Arizona’s backup options at shortstop, so the Diamondbacks have the market cornered on scrappiness even if their offense will suffer without Drew.
