The internet associates me with Jed Lowrie
And this is why: I do things like this.
Last night, I checked the SoxProspects.com news page (which links to articles on prospects) and there were three or four articles concerning prospects I care...quite a lot about. I'll start with Justin Masterson, because the next three all concern Jed and it would be awkward to jump around.
So here's an article on Rick Justin that I thought was interesting. It explains his tail-off last year in Portland - it turns out he'd had some shoulder issues, and they threw his balance off: If you want the major culprit for the fall, Masterson points to his left shoulder. "I had a little tenderness there," he said. "That doesn't make sense to the average person, but it really caused an imbalance." The imbalance from favoring his left shoulder affected Masterson's delivery. "My arm angle would drop a little bit, and that sink (on his fastball) would turn into a run," he said. With the ball moving but not sinking, Masterson was less effective. "We noticed it at the end," Masterson said. "It's goofy, but it makes sense."
"It's goofy, but it makes sense." Pure Masterson, everyone.
Right, let's move on to me being all pathetic now!
This piece from ProJo, which is a summary of a PawSox game against Lehigh Valley the other day, has an awesome little bit on Chris Carter and Jed Lowrie: Chris Carter not only continued to look good at the plate, he had the big hit in the decisive sixth. The lefty ripped a drive to the base of the fence in right with the bases loaded. All three runners scored, most notably Jed Lowrie, who had been at first. Lowrie read the play well and got a great jump as he chased home Keith Ginter, who was the runner at second. “That ball was an absolute laser,” Johnson said. “It was a great read by Jed Lowrie. He was running as soon as there was contact. He was right behind Ginter.” Scoring from first meant even more because, in the top of the inning, Lehigh Valley had been unable to score from first on a two-out double. “When runners run hard and read balls right it makes it much easier to score runs,” Johnson said.
Let's look at it like this - they've probably been doing that since college. Jed is, as I discovered in one of the later articles, perfectly comfortable batting in the three-hole (although the likelihood that he'll do that in Boston is incredibly low because someone incredibly important is currently there), so I wouldn't be surprised to see Marquess (Stanford's baseball coach) batting Jed third and Chris fourth. It's a great combination. (I am also reasonably confident that the lead-off hitter in such situations would nearly always be Sam Fuld, too. ...I know way too much now.)
The next two articles are actually about Jed specifically. YAY.
The first one starts like this, interestingly enough: About 546 miles from McCoy Stadium yesterday, Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo committed three errors in a loss to the Blue Jays in Toronto. He already has four miscues in 2008.
The article goes on to point out that Jed's been solid so far this season, even though I know that people do tend to question his defense quite often. To his credit, he's been better than Lugo so far, but this is a really small sample size. (That being said, I do know that he's got the better bat by a mile.)
Oh, and Ron Johnson: “I can’t say enough good things about Jed Lowrie,” Johnson said. “He’s going to give you professional at-bats from both sides of the plate. He’s going to solidify the left side of the infield at shortstop. My biggest concern with Jed is that he just go [sic] out relaxes and has no type of expectations.”
I'm with you, RJ. I can't say enough good things about him, either. And don't worry about him going out and relaxing - I'm sure he doesn't find that difficult at all.
And in this second one...yeah, there's some interesting stuff in here, too. First, we've got a bit on the Johan Santana deal, which kept me up late at night worrying about losing people (namely Jed and Justin): As the trade winds kept blowing, one name that kept surfacing, regardless of what package the Red Sox were trying to sell the Twins, was Lowrie. Had Boston actually pulled the trigger for Santana, it would have resulted in a homecoming of sorts for Lowrie, and here’s why. “My mom is from Minnesota originally,” said Lowrie. “As a kid I went there every other year for Christmas.”
And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he said his dad drove them there the entire way. Oh, but my favorite part of the article...this!
Boston has already encountered a great deal of success when dealing with players from the Pac-10. The Red Sox boast the reigning American League rookie of the year in Dustin Pedroia (Arizona State) and have the potential favorite to cop the honor in Ellsbury (Oregon State). Lowrie could very well be joining his former college rivals on the same field and become the latest installment of Boston’s youthful makeover. “There’s good baseball in the Pac-10 and I think the Red Sox have done a good job drafting some good ones over the last few years,” said Lowrie, who reached base three times in Thursday’s season opener without the benefit of a hit. “It’s flattering to be mentioned in the same grouping as [Pedroia and Ellsbury].”
THAT is why I like the Pac-10 Conference. Those kids are good.
Last night, I checked the SoxProspects.com news page (which links to articles on prospects) and there were three or four articles concerning prospects I care...quite a lot about. I'll start with Justin Masterson, because the next three all concern Jed and it would be awkward to jump around.
So here's an article on Rick Justin that I thought was interesting. It explains his tail-off last year in Portland - it turns out he'd had some shoulder issues, and they threw his balance off: If you want the major culprit for the fall, Masterson points to his left shoulder. "I had a little tenderness there," he said. "That doesn't make sense to the average person, but it really caused an imbalance." The imbalance from favoring his left shoulder affected Masterson's delivery. "My arm angle would drop a little bit, and that sink (on his fastball) would turn into a run," he said. With the ball moving but not sinking, Masterson was less effective. "We noticed it at the end," Masterson said. "It's goofy, but it makes sense."
"It's goofy, but it makes sense." Pure Masterson, everyone.
Right, let's move on to me being all pathetic now!
This piece from ProJo, which is a summary of a PawSox game against Lehigh Valley the other day, has an awesome little bit on Chris Carter and Jed Lowrie: Chris Carter not only continued to look good at the plate, he had the big hit in the decisive sixth. The lefty ripped a drive to the base of the fence in right with the bases loaded. All three runners scored, most notably Jed Lowrie, who had been at first. Lowrie read the play well and got a great jump as he chased home Keith Ginter, who was the runner at second. “That ball was an absolute laser,” Johnson said. “It was a great read by Jed Lowrie. He was running as soon as there was contact. He was right behind Ginter.” Scoring from first meant even more because, in the top of the inning, Lehigh Valley had been unable to score from first on a two-out double. “When runners run hard and read balls right it makes it much easier to score runs,” Johnson said.
Let's look at it like this - they've probably been doing that since college. Jed is, as I discovered in one of the later articles, perfectly comfortable batting in the three-hole (although the likelihood that he'll do that in Boston is incredibly low because someone incredibly important is currently there), so I wouldn't be surprised to see Marquess (Stanford's baseball coach) batting Jed third and Chris fourth. It's a great combination. (I am also reasonably confident that the lead-off hitter in such situations would nearly always be Sam Fuld, too. ...I know way too much now.)
The next two articles are actually about Jed specifically. YAY.
The first one starts like this, interestingly enough: About 546 miles from McCoy Stadium yesterday, Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo committed three errors in a loss to the Blue Jays in Toronto. He already has four miscues in 2008.
The article goes on to point out that Jed's been solid so far this season, even though I know that people do tend to question his defense quite often. To his credit, he's been better than Lugo so far, but this is a really small sample size. (That being said, I do know that he's got the better bat by a mile.)
Oh, and Ron Johnson: “I can’t say enough good things about Jed Lowrie,” Johnson said. “He’s going to give you professional at-bats from both sides of the plate. He’s going to solidify the left side of the infield at shortstop. My biggest concern with Jed is that he just go [sic] out relaxes and has no type of expectations.”
I'm with you, RJ. I can't say enough good things about him, either. And don't worry about him going out and relaxing - I'm sure he doesn't find that difficult at all.
And in this second one...yeah, there's some interesting stuff in here, too. First, we've got a bit on the Johan Santana deal, which kept me up late at night worrying about losing people (namely Jed and Justin): As the trade winds kept blowing, one name that kept surfacing, regardless of what package the Red Sox were trying to sell the Twins, was Lowrie. Had Boston actually pulled the trigger for Santana, it would have resulted in a homecoming of sorts for Lowrie, and here’s why. “My mom is from Minnesota originally,” said Lowrie. “As a kid I went there every other year for Christmas.”
And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he said his dad drove them there the entire way. Oh, but my favorite part of the article...this!
Boston has already encountered a great deal of success when dealing with players from the Pac-10. The Red Sox boast the reigning American League rookie of the year in Dustin Pedroia (Arizona State) and have the potential favorite to cop the honor in Ellsbury (Oregon State). Lowrie could very well be joining his former college rivals on the same field and become the latest installment of Boston’s youthful makeover. “There’s good baseball in the Pac-10 and I think the Red Sox have done a good job drafting some good ones over the last few years,” said Lowrie, who reached base three times in Thursday’s season opener without the benefit of a hit. “It’s flattering to be mentioned in the same grouping as [Pedroia and Ellsbury].”
THAT is why I like the Pac-10 Conference. Those kids are good.