Jed Lowrie got the start for the A’s on Tuesday at second base and hit second in the lineup. It was like old times as he approached the plate in the green and gold uniform in the spring training game against the Chicago Cubs.
“It was exciting, I haven’t been that excited on a baseball field in a while and just happy I didn’t pass out quite frankly,” Lowrie said after going 0-for-2 in his spring debut.
“It was exciting because I put in a lot of work to get to this point,” Lowrie added. “I’m happy with the way the day went and hopefully can just build off of this.”
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Lowrie signed a minor league deal this offseason in his third reunion with the A’s and came off of a tough two years with the New York Mets. He played in just nine games with the Mets in 2019 and faced many setbacks as he was riddled with knee injuries.
“Swings felt good, thought I saw the ball well,” Lowrie said. “Took the pitches I should have took and swung at the ones I should have. The body felt good. We’ll see how everything responds tomorrow.”
A’s manager Bob Melvin said before Tuesday's game he anticipates putting Lowrie on some rest days in between time at second base, with some designated hitter roles in there as well.
Lowrie said there isn’t an actual number of games he believes he needs in order to feel fully right, but he did have to add more running workouts into his daily regime heading into spring training.
Oakland Athletics
“To put an exact number on it is probably a little bit of a guess,” Lowrie said. “I’ve had quite a few live at-bats off of guys on the backfield that’s not quite the same environment, not the same adrenaline so those at-bats on those backfields just kind of get you comfortable in the box and then you got to get into the games to kind of feel that adrenaline, feel that energy of the stadium. So, to answer your question, I can’t put a number on it.”
He also says there isn’t necessarily one thing he needs to concentrate on during his spring games.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily one thing I think it’s just getting back into the rhythm of the game, getting back to playing, just being in that environment,” Lowrie said.
Lowrie believes he’s exactly where he wants to be at this point in spring.
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“I’m really happy with where I’m at,” he said. “I made really great progress in the first couple weeks of spring.”
If Lowrie ends up being the A’s hitter he was in the past (he owns a .271 average across five seasons with Oakland), he could be a pivotal part of the second base decision that already includes Tony Kemp and Chad Pinder as potential suitors.