Jed Lowrie - Just WOW!
by MerryGoByeBye on Oct 23, 2008 12:30 AM EDT
28 comments
Again, via Extra Bases:
Red Sox infielder Jed Lowrie played since May with a sprain and a small non-displaced fracture in his left wrist, aliments that worsened as the season wore on, general manager Theo Epstein said in an e-mail. The minor injuries were revealed Tuesday when Lowrie underwent an MRI. The wrist has already begun to heal itself, Epstein said, and should be back to full strength with three weeks of rest.
The injuries gave Lowrie occasional pain and affected his grip strength, particularly late in the season, which likely explains his difficulties batting lefthanded. As a righthanded batter, Lowrie hit .338 with a .525 slugging percentage with the Red Sox. Lefthanded, he hit .222 with a .334 slugging percentage.
Lowrie finished the season on an 8-for-51 (.157) slump, but he played in 52 of the Sox’ 53 games in August and September even as the symptoms worsened. He committed only one error in his rookie regular season, none as a shortstop.
Lowrie originally suffered the injuries while playing at Triple A Pawtucket in May.
This sounds odd. Why didn't they sit him at the end of the season? Regardless, this would indeed help to explain his bad season as a LHH. Also, the kid's pretty amazing if this is true. Any thoughts?
0 recs |
28 comments
Email
Print
Comments
Just imagine how good he could have been without an injury. He didn’t set the world on fire this season, but he certainly made Julio Lugo look like … well, Julio Lugo.
The Jed Lowrie topic will be an interesting one this offseason, that’s for sure…
by Randy Booth on Oct 23, 2008 1:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
This is interesting?
“So, what are we doing about Lowrie and the shortstop position?”
“Start him.”
“What about Lugo?”
“Well, I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who-”
“Okay, I get it.”
Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/
by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Oct 23, 2008 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Pedroia v. 2?
Didn’t Pedroia break a bone in his hand and play out the entire postseason and part of September with it last year?
Certainly explains why I thought Lowrie was looking more like Craig Counsell 2.0 during the last half of the season, though.
by morineko on Oct 23, 2008 5:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I can think of one reason they didn't sit him:
Alex Cora.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on Oct 23, 2008 7:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Very well said sir
And the Sox were still in the division race, so they couldn’t have sit him. I guess he could have being benched in the last week or so, but that would not be enough.
Mother---- him and John Wayne!
by MerryGoByeBye on Oct 23, 2008 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
They played him because they had to.
There was really no other option—Cora’s not really an everyday player. And even hurt, he’s still a pretty decent player.
But it’s hard not to see him staying with this club—you have a young kid who can play three different positions, can switch-hit, and can potentially hit just about anywhere in the lineup.
He gives you a whole lot of options for very little money—at the very least as a utility player off the bench, and possibly the starting SS next year.
As for the slump at the end of the season, I think the combination of the end of the rookie “honeymoon,” his injury, and having to adjust to the MLB season probably means you shouldn’t draw any conclusions about what he can do at the plate. But I don’t think it would hurt to give the kid a chance. He did everything the team asked of him—which was a lot (and quite possibly more than they had any right to ask of a rookie in a mid-season callup).
by lone1c on Oct 23, 2008 10:09 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Good points.
Think of it this way: the kid is a rookie. Is he going to sit because his hand hurts a little bit? No. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever get back, so he’s going to play his ass off.
by Randy Booth on Oct 23, 2008 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed
And Jed was playing great up until his slump. But after the Jacoby fiasco this season, I’m more cautious about Lowrie next year.
Mother---- him and John Wayne!
by MerryGoByeBye on Oct 23, 2008 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ellsbury
Ellsbury had terrific AAA numbers for the most part. He’s a 4-tool player, lacking only power. This year was a career low in terms of OBP. The disturbing trend is that Ellsbury has become less adept at taking bases on balls. He needs to find his zone and stop swinging at cheese. If Ellsbury can improve his discipline, I’d peg his average OBP around .360-.370.
For your consideration:
2008: 41 BB (1 walk per 13.5 ABs)
Boston (MLB), 554 ABs: 0.280/0.336/0.394
2007: 46 BB (1 walk per 12 ABs)
Boston (MLB), 116 ABs: 0.353/0.394/0.509
Pawtucket (AAA), 363 ABs: 0.298/ 0.360/0.380
Portland (AA), 73 ABs: 0.452/0.518/0.644
2006: 32 BB (1 walk per 9.5 ABs)
Peoria (Fall league), 105 ABs: 0.276/0.342/0.371
Portland (AA), 198 ABs: 0.308/0.387/0.434
"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.
by SoxDevil on Oct 23, 2008 1:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Great work.
I agree completely on Ellsbury. He’s barely walking at all, and has become Vlad Guerrero-like in his aggressiveness.
"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.
by 0157H7 on Oct 23, 2008 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
And his power could develop with time.
Whenever he starts using the BP swing.
Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/
by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Oct 23, 2008 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
one or the other
When he gets the OBP up a bit, we can worry about power. He shouldn’t feel the need to be producing as much power as Pedroia and Youkilis.
by RickD on Oct 24, 2008 2:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
How can you not feel inadequate...
when a midgety, 5’ 6" second-sacker is hitting for far more power than you’ll likely ever produce?
Ellsbury’s Peoria stint (AA fall ball) was the most similar to this year’s results. Hopefully, he’ll put work in and rectify his free-swinging.
"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.
by SoxDevil on Oct 24, 2008 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The only injury which helped the Sox this season
was losing Julio Lugo and letting Lowrie play full-time. Francona wasn’t going to do it. This kid, along with Pedroia, should be signed and locked up with a good contract for years. As for Julio…….take your frown and your anemic RISP average somewhere else.
After reading this story on Lowrie, you wonder if ANYONE was healthy at the end of the season! Also, while
watching Game One of the World Series last night, it just convinced me more that the best team in baseball was not there, sadly.
by ccthemovieman on Oct 23, 2008 1:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Youk.
Youk always strikes me as a healthy guy. In fact, I don’t know why he even bothers to use doors. He seems like the kind of guy who would just blow through the middle of the dugout wall and shout “OH YEEAAH!”. Yes, Kevin Youkilis is the kool-aid man.
"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.
by SoxDevil on Oct 23, 2008 1:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Except, he's Jewish.
How do you like THAT, Mel?
"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.
by SoxDevil on Oct 24, 2008 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes, but
Youk’s Romanian Jewish.
"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.
by 0157H7 on Oct 24, 2008 9:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
OK, then how about
He (Youk) is not human because he is a Romanian Jewish God! Are we happy now with this exact explanation of why he can play so hard and never gets hurt??
by NG on Oct 24, 2008 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He's not really Greek.
One of his ancestors was on the run from someone/something and changed his name to Youkilis. I can’t remember where I read that – SI, or ESPN Mag prolly.
Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/
by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Oct 26, 2008 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
hahaha
He gets hit by pitches (and bounced tosses) all the time, and yet seems to never miss a game.
Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/
by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Oct 23, 2008 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
That settles it
Lowrie has to be the starter next year. He produces more than Lugo with a broken wrist, so what will he do when he’s healthy next year?
by RSNexile on Oct 23, 2008 6:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
no wonder he sucked
Seeing him in the ALCS made me cringe.
I don’t understand this macho thing where a player is expected to continue playing despite an injury that reduces his ability by 35% or more. If people need for Lowrie to prove he’s tough, he can eat nails or something. I’d rather have people in the lineup who give the Sox the best chance of scoring runs. And it was pretty obvious in the last months of the season, that was not Jed Lowrie.
At least we now know why.
by RickD on Oct 24, 2008 2:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
As I said above, they had no choice.
At the end of the season, the Sox’s depth chart at SS read: Lowrie, Cora. That’s it.
There was only one other option, and the Sox know that Cora isn’t an everyday player. He can come in for late innings, or relieve a guy for a day or two, but he doesn’t have the temperament to be the starter.
So, benching Lowrie would have meant we would have needed to bring up someone else from the minor league system (it’s September, so good luck pulling off a third post-deadline trade!), and ask them to shoulder the load. It worked once, but I suspect the Sox didn’tt think it would work a second time—and I’m not sure they had many people they trusted to get the job done.
That said, I wish they would have subbed Cora in for Lowrie a little bit more, maybe once or twice a week or so, to give Lowrie a little bit more rest.
by lone1c on Oct 24, 2008 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Jed, the future of shortstop in Beantown
Jed Lowrie is another exciting kid brought up from within, and is the future long term shortstop for the Red Sox. Watching him play the field and hit is fun, he is young, and still has some kinks to work out but so didn’t Dustin Pedroia at the beginning of last season. In know way am I saying that Lowrie is Pedroiaesque, but given the fact that Julio Lugo was a bust and there are no other options, Lowrie is here to stay. Thats the thing I love about Boston these days, the young guys have all come from within and the future is bright with players like Lowrie. In my opinion he is 2 to 3 years away from having a Nomar type season we all remember from the late 90’s, but who knows these days, he could be a bust, but signs point towards him being around for a long time coming.
Go Sox Go!
by soxfan39 on Nov 12, 2008 10:30 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I don't know about a Nomar season...
That’s a lot of pressure.
Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/glossary/
by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Nov 13, 2008 7:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
