Projo Sox Blog

Shortstop Jed Lowrie had to leave today's Triple-A Pawtucket game in the fifth inning because of soreness in his left knee, which has been bothering him since he was hit by a pitch Tuesday.

Lowrie is expected to sit out of tomorrow's Pawtucket game against Syracuse, and will be re-evaluated afterwards.

"I think I just pushed it a little too far. I wasn't quite ready. Give it a day tomorrow, see how it feels going forward," Lowrie said.

Lowrie is in Pawtucket on a rehab assignment, recovering from wrist surgery performed in April. The wrist is recovering well, but the knee problem is pushing his schedule back.
"I want to be out there to do what I'm supposed to be doing," Lowrie said. "To have the knee be a hindrance as well, it's frustrating."

The area where Lowrie was hit, on the inside of the left knee, is badly bruised, and Lowrie said the muscles surrounding it are working too hard to compensate. Lowrie had missed three straight games before playing six innings in the field Sunday.

It's kind of a whole body thing. I feel like my legs have been spasming to try to protect the area," Lowrie said. "I feel like I just got done working out for a couple hours of leg workouts. The muscles are in a constant state of contraction. It wears me out."

On a positive note, Lowrie is finally getting to test out his left-handed swing against right-handed pitching, and the results are promising.

The wrist injury that forced Lowrie into April surgery was particularly hard on the switch hitter when he would hit from the left side. It hampered his ability to catch up to fastballs, and sapped his power.

Problem is, Pawtucket has faced a steady diet of left-handed pitchers since Lowrie's rehab began, prompting him to hit right-handed to gain the matchup advantage. Coming into today's game, when he faced right-hander Garrett Mock, Lowrie had only one at-bat against a righty in his week of rehab so far.

The results are good so far. Lowrie is 0-7 hitting right-handed. After a 1-for-2 day against Mock, he's 2-3 hitting from the left side, accounting for all of his minor league hits.

"That's the thing -- the reason I'm here, the wrist, feels fine. Get this leg thing figured out, get a few at-bats underneath me, and hopefully be ready to go," he said.

Lowrie is expected to return to the majors around the all-star break.

 Tags  Dan Barbarisi Jed Lowrie Pawtucket Red Sox

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