'Spin and grin': Lowe's bat not fazed by shifts

Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe has hit two opposite-field home runs this season. He joked earlier in the season that it might have just been accidental opposite-field power, but there’s no doubt he does hit the ball to the opposite side of the field a lot.

“I guess I'm just playing my game,” Lowe reiterated on Monday. “I like to get my best swing off. More times than not, the balls just spin away and those are the balls that I really try to get extended on, so it just happening on accident, honestly. Sometimes I can't get to the pitch inside and sometimes it works out right and it goes the other way, but you know there's never intent to really, like, hit it over there. It's just how it happens.”

He has 20 opposite-field hits this season, which is good for the most in all of baseball. He does it so much that it makes him almost unshiftable. Lowe, who is slashing .287/.374/.478 on the season, has been shifted around 44% of the time in 2021. He has nine opposite-field hits against the shift, which was tied for third in the big leagues at the conclusions of Sunday’s games.

He is also hitting .315 (17-for-54) with the opposing team’s infield shifted, which is 15th among players with a minimum of 50 plate appearances (league average is .236).

Lowe said, especially in recent weeks, he’s been getting pitches on the outside corner which allow him to hit it to the opposite side of the field and get through the hole.

While Lowe isn’t getting shifted nearly as much as other Rangers hitters like Joey Gallo or Willie Calhoun, manager Chris Woodward thinks opposing defenses may need to stop soon.

“He's going to get a huge two-RBI single through the four-hole soon and teams are going to stop shifting because they're gonna be forced to,” Woodward said. “And that's going to be a cool moment when he gets out in front and rolls over a ball. The other team's going to be pulling their hair out because they don't know where to play him. He just lets the ball travel and keeps it flat to the other side, which a lot of guys can't do nowadays, because they’ve got this kind of swing where they can't hit the ball low to the other side. But he does it on a nightly basis.”

Lowe said he’s not too worried one way or another what opposing teams do, and his approach at the plate doesn’t change either way.

“If the shift gets moved and they go back to normal, then it opens up holes in better spots to hit through,” Lowe said. “It's just part of it. If I'm going to get shifted and pitched a certain way, then I have to make a plan, based off of what I think is going to help us win the most. Sometimes it's a backside single and sometimes to try and spin and grin and if you get the four-hole to roll it through, then it’s better for us.”

Pitching schedule change

With Rangers starter Kohei Arihara added to the injured list with a contusion in his right middle fingers, the pitching schedule got a bit of a shakeup.

While nothing has been made official yet, Woodward said Mike Foltynewicz will likely pitch the series opener in Houston on Thursday, while lefty Wes Benjamin may be called back up from Triple-A to pitch on Friday.

Benjamin started the season on the Opening Day roster out of the bullpen, but he was optioned to the alternate training site on April 15, and then joined Triple-A Round Rock at the start of the Minor League season.

He was the Express’ Opening Day starter, pitching five shutout innings, allowing just four hits and notching eight strikeouts. Benjamin, normally a pitcher that pounds the zone, struggled with his command when he was in the big leagues early in the season. Through 5 2/3 innings, he walked more batters (6) than he struck out (5).

Benjamin is on the Rangers’ three-man taxi squad during the seven-day road trip.