Lowe righted self by writing

SEATTLE – Mark Lowe spent the first year of his professional career listening without hearing.

As a result, he pitched without learning much – at least, not remembering.

By his second year in the Seattle minor league system, the young Texas right-hander took it beyond listening – he began writing down everything pitching coaches told him.

Through rookie ball, instructional league and Single-A, every time a coach or manager advised him, Lowe wrote it down. Last winter, he took a much larger step – he read what he’d written down.

The results produced a remarkable season of ascendance for Lowe, a 23-year-old who began 2006 in Single-A, jumped to Double-A after 13 games and then to the Seattle roster.

His minor league stats this season: In 24 games split between two levels, Lowe was 1-2 with a 1.96 earned run average and six saves.

As a major leaguer? Four relief appearances, covering 5 2/3 innings. No walks, seven strikeouts and a 1-0 record.

“He’s got three quality pitches– a fastball that moves, a hard slider and a change-up – and he’s gotten big league hitters out with all three of them,” pitching coach Rafael Chaves said. “Mark doesn’t rattle. What’s not to like?”

Seattle never doubted his ability. Lowe and the Mariners simply had to wait until he was ready to put everything he’d heard into practice, and last winter he did.

“I got an apartment across from the Peoria (Ariz.) complex and worked out there a lot the whole off-season,” Lowe said. “And I thought about all the things I’d written down, all the advice I’d put down from every pitching coach I’d had, and one day it just all came together.

“My first season, I didn’t write anything down and I probably didn’t pay enough attention. My second year, I wrote down everything I was doing mechanically, everything I was going through mentally, and all the stuff the coaches told me.”

Last winter, it all began making sense to Lowe, who worked on his mechanics and began adopting the mental approach he’d heard about his first two seasons.

“When I struggled in the minors, it was usually something I’d been told about and hadn’t changed,” Lowe said. “I’d get out in front on my pitches. I’d get under the ball with my hand. That was fairly easy to correct once I got it.”