Meet the Future: U.S. middle infielders

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Meet the Future: U.S. middle infielders
06/30/2006 8:00 AM ET
By Lisa Winston / MLB.com

A glance at the roster for the U.S. squad for the upcoming XM Satellite Radio All-Star Futures Game shows a team that is strong up and down the lineup.
But if you had to single out one particularly strong spot, it would be very hard to ignore the quartet of middle infielders.
There is nothing middling about these men in the middle.
Stephen Drew, SS, Tucson Sidewinders (Triple-A, Diamondbacks)
The third of the remarkable Drew brothers from Hahira, Ga., to be taken in the first round of the amateur draft, Stephen may well turn out to be the best of the trio, as well. Older brother J.D., an outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is no slouch, and middle brother Tim was a pitcher taken by Cleveland.
But this Drew, the 15th player selected overall in 2004 out of Florida State, has just cruised through the Minors in fewer than two pro seasons and is sitting on the brink of the bigs as he hones his craft an hour down I-10 from his future home in Phoenix.
In his pro debut in 2005, the 6-foot-1 195-pounder hit .389 with 10 homers and 39 RBIs in just 38 games at Class A Advanced Lancaster before moving up to Double-A Tennessee. There he batted just .218 but was slowed by a nagging hamstring strain. Combined, he posted a .596 slugging percentage, tops in the organization. Drew, 23, has power to all fields and is a solid enough defensive shortstop.
This year, Drew was batting .283 with 10 homers and 42 RBIs for the Sidewinders.
Howie Kendrick, 2B, Salt Lake Bees (Triple-A, Angels)
It may be time for Kendrick to legally change his name to "Howie Kendrick who may be the best hitter in the Minor Leagues." That's how often the phrase is used to describe him, and it would be hard to argue.
In four pro seasons coming into 2006, Kendrick was hitting .359. Last year, between Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Arkansas, he also combined for season-high power numbers with 19 homers and 89 RBIs, as well as 25 steals, while finishing second in the Minors with a .367 average.
This season, he was batting .386 when he was, somewhat surprisingly, called up to Los Angeles to make his Major League debut. In part-time play there, he batted just .115 in a two-week span and when he returned to Salt Lake he continued what might be described as the first mini-slump of his career, batting just .257 in his first nine games back.
Then, on May 25, he busted that slump big-time, going 5-for-5 and has hit .421 since then, including an 11-game hitting streak of which the first seven games were multi-hit affairs. Overall, Kendrick was hitting .388 with 13 home runs and 57 RBIs.
Kendrick, 22, was a 10th-round pick in 2002 out of junior college in Florida. A hard worker whose defense has improved at every level, he has a good eye at the plate.
Eric Patterson, 2B, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (Double-A, Cubs)
Like his middle-infield mate Stephen Drew, Patterson has some impressive bloodlines. His dad, Donald, was in the NFL and his older brother Corey, a first-round pick by the Cubs in 1998, is now with Baltimore.
Patterson, known as E-Pat, was the Cubs' eighth-round pick out of Georgia Tech and had one of the best pro debuts in the game last summer when he hit .333, tops in the Midwest League, with 13 homers, 71 RBIs and 40 steals at Class A Peoria. He added 26 doubles and 11 triples, as well, to earn the organization's Minor League Player of the Year honors.
This year he was hitting .282 with five home runs, 31 RBIs and 23 steals. The 22-year-old has plus speed and good power for his position, as well as a good eye at the plate.
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Tulsa Drillers (Double-A, Rockies)
One of two first-rounders in the middle infield, Tulowitzki was the Rockies' top pick last summer out of Long Beach State, where he inherited the spot of former American League Rookie of the Year Bobby Crosby.
The seventh player taken overall, he went right to Class A Advanced Modesto where he hit .266 with four homers and 14 RBIs in 22 games before his season was cut short because of a quad injury.
This year, healthy to start the season, he was assigned to Tulsa, where he was hitting .274 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs, and was named to the Texas League All-Star North Division team.
Tulowitzki may boast the best infield arm in the Colorado system and has the makeup to match his fine defense. A pure hitter with power for his position, he has a strong arm and good range.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.