As you may know, I’ve been waiting for the day that Jed Lowrie would officially crack into the Red Sox starting lineup. The day has come (whether it is temporary or not) after he wowed a national audience on Monday with a huge four hit game. Fantasy owners are now running to the waiver wire for him as if it’s 1996 and he’s Tickle Me Elmo. Right before Monday’s game, I had written some wise words about Lowrie:
Though he won’t be able to sustain a .538 BABIP, he can still bring a lot to the fantasy table if he gets full time AB’s. Keep an eye on that situation as Marco Scutaro hasn’t done much to keep his job.
Ah, memories. At that time, he was owned in about 30% of fantasy leagues out there. Now, two days later, he’s owned in about 75% of fantasy leagues and it’s rising by the minute. I definitely endorse Lowrie as someone to own in most leagues and I even had a post about him being a deep sleeper this season where I said things like:
Considering the fact that his ADP is at nearly the 500th pick, you probably can just let Jed Lowrie go undrafted at this point while keeping a close eye on his status with the Red Sox. They’re going to have a formidable run-producing offense so he could definitely have some nice value if he can work his way into the starting lineup this season.
What an endorsement! Now the time has come to take your eye off of Lowrie and pick him up. At this point, people are picking him up blindly because he is the hot name of the week. But, what are you really going to get out of this guy if he plays the full year? Before the season, I had predicted some numbers which I’ll still stand behind: .275 AVG, 20 HR, 90 R, 70 RBI and 0 SB. For someone with 2B and SS eligibility, that’s definitely very nice. If you have someone like Yunel Escobar, you’d be getting about 10 more HR, 10 RBI and 10 Runs by owning Lowrie instead.
But, I think where Lowrie will really whet your whistle is in point-based leagues that would reward his OBP and ability to hit for doubles. He has the ability to hit like Nick Markakis or Billy Butler where he’d get decent HR totals with 40+ doubles in a full season. So, in leagues where you get rewarded for that type of thing, I’d be even happier with owning Lowrie.
Both second base and shortstop are thin positions so Lowrie could be end up being a key pickup if he keeps the job in Boston.
