The veteran has an approach that works for any age.
While the Pittsburgh Pirates' season hasn't gone perfectly according to plan, things have been a lot better this year than they typically are.
That was evident on Wednesday night when Oneil Cruz blasted a home run in a 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, which also helped the team make history.
By hitting this home run, Cruz and the Pirates set a franchise record for the most home runs in a single season with 172. The Pirates ended up hitting two more in this game, with Brandon Lowe and Rafael Flores leaving the yard.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Lowe had a lot to say about how it felt to do something of this magnitude.
While the Pirates don't exactly have the craziest history in Major League Baseball, it's always a good thing when a team can make some history. Lowe said that doing this was a great honor and felt "pretty impressive."
“It’s kind of crazy to think about,” said Lowe. “A franchise that has been around as long as this one has, to etch yourself as an offense into the history books like that, it’s pretty impressive…"
What was more interesting, however, was his approach at the plate. I think a lot of guys could benefit from listening to stuff like this, whether it be a young player in Major League Baseball, a young hitter looking to improve at a much lower level, or anybody in between.
While the Pirates have left the yard at an above-average clip this year, it isn't necessarily something that the team is trying to do during every at-bat. That's something that a lot of young hitters have to learn.
“You have to have an approach and you have to understand that that guy on the mound is one of the baseball players in the world too,” Lowe explained, per Pittsburgh Baseball Now.
“If you’re going up there and the only thing you’re trying to do is put a ball in the river, you’re going to expose yourself to a lot of different things. It’s a testament to the guys in here that are rolling off of good approaches and taking good swings on good pitches and doing damage with them.”
Ultimately, home runs typically result from a good approach.
Guys like to get big and try to do too much in the box sometimes, but a player like Lowe understands what he has to do.
He's been around this game for a very long time, and instead of trying to do too much, he sticks to his approach. It typically works pretty well for him.
