Stephen Drew to see extended action, but still likely a ways off

The good news regarding the extended injury status of Stephen Drew is that the shortstop will finally be seeing some live, in-game action. The bad news is that it is merely in a controlled, extended spring session and Drew won’t even be running out of the batter’s box.

Drew’s fractured ankle injury has been one of the few areas of concern for the Diamondbacks this offseason.  The D-Backs were hopeful that he would be ready for the regular season, but that was pushed back at the beginning of spring training and Drew was placed on the DL in order to open up a roster spot.  Drew is progressing, but given the severity of his ankle injury the D-Backs are proceeding very cautiously in his rehab.  Once Drew is back, the D-Backs will have the lineup that Kirk Gibson has been envisioning all offseason as Drew has yet to play in a lineup with recent additions Aaron Hill and Jason Kubel.  Despite their 4-1 start to the season, it’s hard to argue that the D-Backs couldn’t use the extra help on offense.