Following a phenomenal September in which he led the Atlanta Braves into the playoffs; Derek Lowe was named the
National League Pitcher of the Month.
Lowe dominated in September, winning all five of his starts while posting a minuscule 1.17 ERA over 30.2 innings. With a 29:3 K:BB ratio, Lowe dominated hitters and finished the year with his best streak as a member of the Atlanta Braves.
Since signing a four year, 60 million dollar contract with the Braves before the 2009 season, Lowe had been a disappointment, winning games almost despite himself. With the playoffs coming up, Lowe can continue to show that the signing wasn’t a mistake if he can continue to pitch well.
With his dominant September coming on the heels of one of the worst September performances in his career (6.23 September 2009 ERA) the Braves look extremely wise for skipping Lowe’s first scheduled start of the month to give his arm some extra rest.
A sinker-ball pitcher who typically gets a ton of ground balls, Lowe’s impressive strikeout numbers may be even more surprising than his dominant ERA. Both his K/9 and K/BB ratio were the highest for any month during his tenure in Atlanta.
For the Braves, Lowe’s resurgence couldn’t have come at a better time. With Tim Hudson struggling to replicate his impressive first half, Jair Jurrjens dealing with an injury and Mike Minor fighting through arm fatigue, Lowe stepped up as the team’s ace and led their run to the NL Wild Card.
Lowe is currently slated to toe the rubber for the Braves in game one of their playoff series (he would have been the go-to guy had the Braves played in a one-game playoff) against Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants. Lincecum also had a fine September (5-1, 1.94 ERA) so both offenses will likely struggle to score runs.
Used with permission of the author.
Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.
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