Jed Lowrie was already off to a sizzling start for the Boston Red Sox, and he cushioned that in the Patriots' Day game vs. Toronto on Monday morning with a 4-for-5 day that included a home run and four RBI. His numbers sit at a .516 batting average and two home runs (with just three strikeouts) through 33 plate appearances, making himself out to be a regular Ted Williams at Fenway so far in 2011.
OK, so maybe that sample size is ridiculously small and Lowrie has a little more to prove before he should be compared to the Splendid Splinter...
In all seriousness, though, his hot start has to be making manager Terry Francona think twice about Marco Scutaro being the starting shortstop for his club. Jed Lowrie has simply been too good to ignore.
And with the way the Red Sox have had trouble scoring runs and winning games until this recent Toronto series (to which Lowrie has been a significant contributor), it'll be hard to keep his bat out of the lineup.
If you rely on Scutaro in any way for your fantasy baseball team, hit the panic button. If you own Lowrie, hang on to him and try to seek updates on the lineup card in advance of each game (Bleacher Report's Team Stream App for iPhone often helps in this regard via the Twitter updates from newspaper beat writers, actually).
If you don't own Lowrie, pick him up now. That is if he's still available (I drafted and dropped him early on, and now some jerk named Andrew has him). With shortstop and third base eligibility in most leagues and more to follow (Lowrie could gain it in the outfield, second base and first base by the end of the season), there are few better utility options than Jed Lowrie.
For some context, Lowrie's prospect pedigree and overall track record is much better than that of fellow breakout player Sam Fuld. So, while "The Legend of Sam Fuld" is still intact, Jed Lowrie is a much better and more useful fantasy option.
Anna Paquin Diane Kruger Magdalena Wróbel Connie Nielsen Melissa George
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