Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Boston Jed Sox

Photo Credt: Elsa/Getty Images North America
If you had asked me who the shining star of the Red Sox would be at this point in the season, I can guarantee you Jed Lowrie wouldn't have been on that list.

Historically Lowrie has been an average utility player who has earned the nickname "no tickets" in my household (inside joke, sorry all). 

He made his MLB debut playing 3rd base on April 15th (my birthday!) in 2008. He had a respectable season batting .258 over 81 games.

2009 was a different story for him entirely. Batting just .147 over 32 games, it didn't seem the Sox would have a permanent place for this young player.

In 2010 he hit a respectable .287 with 9 long balls over 55 games. Lowrie seemed to to be a decent utility player, especially against lefties. But to me, there wasn't much else.

Enter the 2011 season. The season of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and the triumphant return of Youkilis, Pedroia and even Ellsbury from the DL. We had Scuataro as our starting SS it seemed like our team was set. Lowrie wasn't supposed to be a key player, yet here we are. Over the past couple of weeks Lowrie has become the heart and soul of the Red Sox franchise. Even in the past couple games where he hasn't been hitting as well, he's had productive at bats by advancing batters. (Don't make a liar out of me, no tickets!)

I even picked him up in one of my fantasy baseball leagues (OK, truth be told. I tried to pick him up in both of my fb leagues, but lost out to my brother in one!)

Not only is he making waves on the diamond...he's also earned himself a Chuck Norrisesque Twitter following using the hashtag #legendofjedlowrie






This is the final year of his contract if I'm not mistaken. Let's really see what the kid can do this year. What do you think?




Is Jed Lowrie The Real Deal?

2 comments:

Andrew J said...

He's on a streak, and its a contract year - I think he'll be hot then cool a bit after the All Star break, but who knows, the guy may just be ripe for a break out year, and when Carl is in a funk and Adrian is only just getting going, its the perfect time for someone to step up - and he seized the opportunity. Lets see if he makes the most of it and continues to hold down a starting spot in the infield. Scutaro is solid and is a starter but you you just can't hold a guy who's hot like that down. Then again, Bledsoe was good, but then came this young guy called Brady. The rest is history.

Anonymous said...

He's still under team control for several more years. I believe he becomes eligible for arbitration after this year, but he won't be a free agent until 2014.