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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Lowe hopes to be M’s closer

Vacancy left on roster by Putz up for grabs in Seattle

Mariners pitcher Mark Lowe has set a goal to become the team’s closer in 2009. (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
By Kirby Arnold Everett Herald

PEORIA, Ariz. – Mark Lowe suffered through 101 losses with the Seattle Mariners, then began his off-season by watching the Tampa Bay Rays reach the World Series.

“All I could think was, ‘That could be us,’ ’ Lowe said.

Then he saw Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge get the final out of the Series and said to himself, “I hope to God that one day, that’s going to be me.”

It just might be in 2009.

The Seattle Mariners don’t have a closer, having traded J.J. Putz to the New York Mets early this month, and Lowe badly wants to win that job.

“That’s what I did in the minor leagues,” Lowe said. “I closed on the two teams I was on in 2006 and I loved it.”

That was Class A Inland Empire and Double-A San Antonio, where he had a combined six saves that season. He also converted seven saves for the Class A Everett AquaSox of the Northwest League in his first pro season in 2004.

“There’s something about the adrenaline rush you get coming in from the bullpen,” he said. “You’ve got three outs to get, maybe four or five, and you’re letting it loose the whole time. You can use all your pitches for one inning. It’s a tough job but, to me, it’s the best job in the world.”

That’s what he told Putz this year when the trials of a tough season wore on him.

“When he would get down on himself or get upset, I would tell him, ‘What are you mad about? You’ve got the best job in the world,’ ” Lowe said.

Halfway into the off-season, the Mariners have no replacement for Putz, but there are in-house options. None of them, however, comes without some hesitation.

Brandon Morrow saved 10 games this past season when Putz was hurt, but that’s before he was converted into a starter who went into the off-season considered to be an important part of the 2009 rotation. Moving him back to the bullpen may solve one problem, but it could create another by weakening the rotation. Morrow has told the Mariners he prefers to start, but will pitch wherever the team needs him.

Miguel Batista, who has lost his place in the rotation, has plenty of closing experience with 38 career saves. But he’s coming off an injury-filled season when he went 4-14 with a 6.26 ERA and, at age 38 when next season begins, some wonder if the years have caught up with him.

Aaron Heilman, acquired from the New York Mets in the Putz trade, saved three games last year but went 3-8 and 5.21, his worst numbers since he became a big-league regular.

Then there’s Lowe.

He wants the job perhaps more than anyone and said his right arm is fully recovered from major elbow surgery in 2006.

The Mariners had called him up early in that season and he mixed a fastball in the mid 90 mph range – it occasionally touched 100 – with a sharp slider.

However, the elbow broke down and a radical surgery, to repair a chondral defect by drilling holes into the bone to allow cartilage growth, tossed his career into doubt. One doctor feared Lowe may not pitch again, but he worked his way back through the pain of rehab and occasional setbacks.

The past season was a breakthrough for him.

While his numbers – 1-5, 5.37 ERA in 57 appearances – weren’t impressive, the fact he pitched all season without an elbow issue was.

“It really took me five good months this year to get back to where I was in ’06,” he said. “The velocity was there for me all year. I was in the mid-90s (including 97 mph by the end of the season). That’s perfect for me and I would love to get even higher, but the important part is that I felt good every day. I took maybe one day off, and that was after I threw three innings in one game.”

Lowe missed two weeks because of injury, but that was after he’d been hit on his foot with a line drive in August. He fretted at the time about not being able to pitch, but Lowe looks back on the two-week break as one of the most important parts of his season.

“I had two weeks off to sit back and watch the games with no stress at all,” he said. “I just watched what was going on and was able to put myself into the situations of the game. That’s the most important part of the game, being able to take a step back and look at it. I hadn’t been able to do that and I felt I had been getting ahead of myself, trying to do too much instead of taking it one pitch at a time. When I went back to that, everything kind of fell into place.

“I didn’t know if I would ever be back to where I was – if I would feel the same way or if I would have the confidence level I had before. In the back of your mind you know that you went through that surgery. But there came a point late in the season when I told myself, ‘It’s done with. You’re healthy, you’re throwing well, you’ve been here all year, you’ve got one month left, so go back to basics.’ ”

For the first time since 2005, Lowe is working out this off-season unleashed from the restrictions of being a rehab patient. He has not only his health, but more confidence than any time before the surgery. And he believes he can be the Mariners’ next closer.

“I feel I am ready, physically and mentally,” he said. “A closer has to be a little bit crazy and I’ve got that crazy side of me. I like to have a good time, but when it comes time to get the job done at the end of the game, I’m ready to flip that switch on and get going.”