Time To Rest Mikey

Just to put this disclaimer out there: Mike Lowell is probably my favorite player on the Boston Red Sox. I’m ecstatic we re-signed Mike to a three-year deal to remain at the hot corner in Boston. His clubhouse leadership is always a positive influence and his defense at third base continues to be a strong point. Lowell has transformed from a World Series hero to a has-been to a contract dump to a World Series hero and one of the most loved players wearing a Red Sox uniform. That’s all fine and dandy.

The fact remains, though: Mike Lowell is currently mired in a huge slump. And something needs to change quickly. Last night in Chicago where the lineup was slapped around by Mark Buehrle, Lowell hit fifth and the smoking hot Jason Bay hit sixth, with the equally hot Jed Lowrie batting seventh. At this point, there is no reason to be batting Lowell ahead of either of these players.

In fact, it’s not only logical to drop Mike to seventh in the order. It’s logical to put him on the disabled list for a few weeks, allow that nagging hip injury to heal which is causing the always defiant Lowell enormous pain on a daily basis, and plug in the reliable Sean Casey in the lineup. Some run-producing and doubles power may be lost, but in no way is Casey a downgrade at this point.

The raw numbers are quite ugly. Hopefully this is a slump he can snap out of, otherwise the talk will fly once again that Lowell is simply a first-half player (although that was squashed last season when he carried the lineup with Ramirez out from the cleanup spot):

July: 93 AB, .215/.286/.290, 4 2B, 1 HR
August: 17 AB, .235/.278/.353, 0 HR, 0 RBI,
Post-ASB: 67 AB, .194/.250/.239, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B

One suggestion I had prior to last night’s game was to hit Youkilis in the cleanup spot for a while, and Tito obliged by making that exact adjustment. I propose the following lineup for the time being, while placing Lowell on the DL to allow him to get back to full strength:

1. Pedroia
2. Lowrie
3. Ortiz
4. Youkilis
5. Bay
6. Drew
7. Casey
8. Varitek
9. Ellsbury/Crisp

When Lowell returns at the end of the month, we can plug him into the 7-spot if Drew stays near the middle part of the lineup, or the 6-spot if Drew moves back up to leadoff. I like Lowrie in the 2-hole rather than 6 or 7 because that would seriously limit the power in the back end of our lineup with that many consecutive “contact” hitters.

With a few weeks to rest, there’s no doubt Mike can come back strong and be the run producer we all expect for the final month of the season.