Lowrie's focus in the right place once again
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Jed Lowrie watched the Red Sox celebrate their World Series title last October with only mild interest. He knew some of the players. He wanted the best for the organization. But Lowrie still had three weeks remaining in the Arizona Fall League. "I was concentrating on what I had to do," he said.
Lowrie has maintained his single-mindedness, but his mission has changed. His objective now is to help the Red Sox get to another World Series. Lowrie hit .157 over the final half-month of the season, raising questions and concerns about his value as the starting shortstop in the playoffs. Those questions have been answered. Lowrie has proved as reliable in the postseason as he was throughout his rookie year, flashing a knack for driving in runs while shedding his brutal season-ending slump.
When spring training ended, Lowrie was sent to Triple A Pawtucket, but he figured he would join the Sox at some point. Team officials told him he would be the player to replace the first injured infielder. "But to be where I'm at right now, I can't really say I envisioned it," Lowrie said.
The Red Sox asked much of Lowrie, more than they had envisioned, too. He played in every game but one in August and September, and was moved through the batting order. He had never played this much baseball or this intensely, and his body wore down.
Lowrie recalled advice he was given when he played at Stanford: "Anybody can play when it's going well. If you're hitting .400, anybody can play. But you really find out who you are as a player when you're not playing."
Lowrie, and the Red Sox, know just what kind of player he is. At 24, he is poised and resilient, a competent and versatile infielder who hits in the clutch. He drove in the final run in the Division Series against the Angels and the first run in the Championship Series Friday night against the Rays.
In the playoffs, Lowrie is hitting .286 - only J.D. Drew, Kevin Youkilis, and Jason Bay are hitting higher on the Sox. Lowrie has two RBIs in the postseason - only Jacoby Ellsbury, Bay, and Drew have more on the Sox. Once mired in a vicious slump, Lowrie made himself a primary playoff contributor.
"This is a hard game," Lowrie said. "Baseball, this is a tough game. It's just about maintaining that steady approach. It's easy to say, but hard to do. In September, I didn't have a lot to show for it, but I felt like I had some good at-bats. I scuffled a little bit. But I came in [to the postseason] with some confidence."
Lowrie hit .297 with runners in scoring position. He came up 74 times in those situations and knocked in 41 runs. He said he bears down in pressure situations, tries to focus a little harder.
"Yeah, I think everybody does," Lowrie said. "Just try to keep it simple, and do what it takes to get the run in."
Game 1 Friday night offered a perfect example. He came to the plate in the fifth inning, men on second and third, scoreless game, no outs, James Shields on the mound. "He's a guy that's able to manipulate his fastball - he throws cutters, two-seamers," Lowrie said. "He's got a good curveball and an outstanding changeup. In the back of my mind, I know that changeup is his out pitch, especially to lefties."
Lowrie fell behind, 0 and 2, and he knew what to expect - Shields's changeup, perhaps the league's best. Shields threw one. "He left it up enough for me to get it to right field," Lowrie said. He struck it more than deep enough. Bay scored with ease, and the Red Sox had their first run.
"From what everybody in player development said, and talking to guys in the front office, you kept hearing the name Bill Mueller," manager Terry Francona said. "That's a pretty big compliment. Professional hitter. Those first six weeks, he drove in every runner that was possible."
Later in the game Friday, the Rays proved how difficult it can be for a playoff neophyte to deliver in that situation. In the seventh and eighth innings, Tampa Bay put two men on with no outs, including a man on third in the seventh. Dioner Navarro, who is the same age as Lowrie and has the same scant playoff experience, lofted a ball to left, but not deep enough. All four Rays base runners from those two innings never moved.
Playoff games can be won or lost in such scenarios. And Lowrie, who two weeks ago couldn't extricate himself from a slump, is showing how to deliver.
"That's part of growing up as a player, being able to deal with situations like that," Lowrie said. "You have to know yourself as player." 