Wednesday Newsletter time: Nathaniel Lowe was the star Tuesday, but DJ Peters' persistence led to critical blast
The outfielder was 0-for-4 before his ninth-inning three-run homer despite hitting balls hard throughout the game.
A good 0-for-4 game is quite an oxymoron, but DJ Peters was having one Tuesday night when he went to the plate for the fifth time in the ninth inning.
He had blistered two balls at more than 100 mph, a one-hopper that was turned into a double play and a line drive to right-center that was caught on a dive at the warning track. He had also flied out to fairly deep right field.
The ball he had hit the weakest resulted in an RBI groundout.
The point is, Peters was due for a good result. He finished with a good 1-for-5 game.
The one was a three-run homer in the ninth inning that gave the Texas Rangers some needed breathing room in a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Peters wasn’t the star of the game — Nathaniel Lowe was for his five-hit game — but he was rewarded for sticking with a good approach when it looked like the baseball gods had it out for him.
“DJ’s approach was to stay right-center the whole day,” manager Chris Woodward said. “I told him after, ‘You made a smart decision by hitting it where they can’t catch it because they’ve been catching all your balls.’”
The Rangers collected 15 hits. Andy Ibanez had three of them, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Adolis Garcia had two apiece.
A kick for Lowe
Lowe admitted after his 5-for-5 night, which fell a triple shy of the cycle, that he isn’t happy with how he has played in his first season with the Rangers.
“As a whole I think I’ve underperformed a lot, honestly,” Lowe said. “I’m not happy with a lot of the things I’ve done the last couple months.”
The three-run homer he hit in the first inning was his first homer since July 1. He has been routinely beaten on fastballs and hasn’t driven too many balls in the air to his pull side, right field.
He’s been working on both, and on Tuesday he unveiled a new leg kick. The guess here is he uses it again Wednesday.
“It’s always kind of a work-in-progress, changing it here and there, but if that’s going to work, I’ll definitely roll with,” Lowe said. “I’ve tried it before. As long as I’m on time I don’t care what it looks like.”
Lowe will enter Wednesday’s game batting .258 with 13 homers, 58 RBIs, a .748 OPS and one midseason name change. Things could be a lot worse, but they will have to be better in 2022 for him to convince the Rangers that he can be an integral piece on a championship team.
He seems to know that he must learn from his struggles.
“It’s part of the growing process of becoming a complete player,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to get punched a little bit to figure out where you’re weak.”
COVID concerns
The Rangers are hoping that the roster will revert back to where it was before the current COVID-19 outbreak at some point next week, but there are still some more COVID-related moves coming.
At least one will come tomorrow, when left-hander Jake Latz is added to the roster and right-hander Dane Dunning heads to the COVID injured list. Dunning said before spring training that he had COVID in December, so he might be positive for a second time (he might also just be in close contact).
The Rangers will also need a starter for Friday to fill in for Spencer Howard.
General manager Chris Young did not name any candidates, saying it’s too early in a situation like this to commit to one pitcher or even a starting pitcher. The Rangers might need bullpen help by Friday depending on how the next two games play out.
Doggy video!
We can all use a little help to get over the hump today. Enjoy. See you Thursday.
