Jed Lowrie playing through broken finger for Oakland Athletics
By Hayden Kane
The Oakland Athletics have any number of versatile and talented players on whom they are counting for the stretch run of the 2014 season.
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One of those players, with some down statistics this season not withstanding, is switch-hitting middle infielder Jed Lowrie. Unfortunately for Oakland, any contributions that come from Lowrie the rest of the way will come in spite of a broken finger.
When the injury initially occurred, the A’s were hoping that it was nothing more serious than a sprain. Unfortunately there is a fracture. Lowrie intends to play through it, but given the nature of baseball and especially the nature of playing a middle infield position, that will mean that he will require a high pain threshold.
Susan Slusser reported the news on Lowrie.
Jed Lowrie got an MRI on his right index finger today that shows a fracture. He plans to keep playing with it, do all he can to help team.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 12, 2014
Through 109 games this season, Lowrie had posted a .238/.317/.354 slash line with five home runs and 42 driven in. He had come on strong in July, however, with a .304 average for the month that provided hope for the rest of the season. Oakland is hardly in a position to be left searching for even more help than they already needed in the middle of the infield.
If nothing else, the A’s will have to pick and choose when they ride Lowrie as he plays through this injury so that they can have him and his bat available for the postseason.