The Red Sox recalled top SS prospect Jed Lowrie from Triple-A on Thursday to fill the slot vacated by the injured Mike Lowell.  However, Sox skipper Terry Francona elected to play Sean Casey at first and shift Kevin Youkilis to third as an immediate solution, so Lowrie’s been forced to watch the games from the bench.

That may change after his performance in his big league debut today.  Lowrie went 1-4, but his first career hit was a 2-run single in the 7th inning.  Lowrie finished the game batting in 3 of the Red Sox 5 runs in a comeback victory over the Cleveland Indians.  Unfortunately, with Casey already in competition and Lowell set to return in the not so distant future, Lowrie is really limited to a utility role.  Unless the Sox are rocked by injury, don’t expect Lowrie to have too much fantasy value this season.  He’s their SS of the future though, so don’t forget this name.

• Mike Phillips of the Miami Heral that the rise to stardom as been lightning fast for Jacoby Ellsbury, who hit .353 in September while going 9-for-9 in stolen bases, then hit hit .438 in the Series when he replaced CoCo Crisp in the postseason. The speedy outfielder should reward fantasy owners with 100+ runs and 35-40 SBs.
• Short stop phenom Jed Lowrie, who last year hit .297 in 93 games at Class AA Portland and then .300 in 40 games at Class AAA Pawtucket, hopes to make the major league squad by 2009. Julio Lugo still has three years left on his deal but Lowrie is still considered by many to be the short stop of the future.
• Pitching prospect Clay Buchholz is the front runner for the fifth starting spot but knows that he still has to prove himself, especially after a shaky debut yesterday where he allowed hits to his first five Twins batters in a 28 pitch, 4-earned-run 3rd inning. If Buchholz doesn’t keep it together he could lose out to Bartolo Colon (who just signed a minor league contract with the BoSox) or Julian Tavarez, who are also competing for the job.

• Cubs’ OF Kosuke Fukudome reached base three times today against the Giants; a walk, a HBP, and an RBI single.
• The Phillies top pick in 2007, Joe Savery, had a very rough first outing.  But his pitching coach was pleased with his performance because of how he responded to a tough situation.
• Former Orioles’ top pick Scott Moore is learning 2B in anticipation of a potential Brian Roberts trade.  The Baltimore outfield is already pretty well occupied by Luke Scott, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, so this is probably a good move by Moore.
• Mets’ top prospect Fernando Martinez got one of the team’s only four hits today.  It seems former prospect Anthony Reyes is continuing his great spring.
• In his first game of American baseball, White Sox IF Alexei Ramirez went 4-5 with an RBI and 3 runs scored.  Sleeper alert here if he wins the 2B job.
• Top IF prospect for the Red Sox, Jed Lowrie, would love to man the middle infield with 2007 ROY Dustin Pedroia.  In the same article is word that RHP Michael Bowden would get his first look of the spring against Northeastern.

The Red Sox had a brief scare today when top infielder prospect Jed Lowrie collided violently with fellow prospect David Mailman, as reported by MLB.com’s Ian Browne. The collision occurred when Lowrie and Kevin Youkilis had Mailman in a run-down. For some reason, Mailman stopped dead in his tracks and Lowrie was unable to avoid running into him. According to the stud prospect, the collision was not as bad as it looked, and everyone left unscathed.

Here is a video of Lowrie

We covered the pitching prospects below, now we’ll cover the hitting prospects. As mentioned before, MiLB.com put together a compilation of the best Q&A’s from recent MLB.com Mailbags. The answers are provided by beat writers for each respective team. We’ve summarize some of the more juicy prospect news below:

• Colby Rasmus’ call-up could be delayed for business reasons. A few days ago we discussed how Evan Longoria is in the same position. The Cardinals could gain an extra year of free agency with a short delay, and avoid Super-Two status with a mid-season call-up.
• Dodgers’ SS prospect Chin-Lung Hu will more than likely start the season at Triple-A. But with Rafael Furcal’s contract up after this season, look for Hu to compete for that position next Spring.
• Giants’ IF prospect Eugenio Velez could steal a whole lot of bases if given the opportunity. Velez has 122 stolen bases between the past two seasons.
• The MLB.com author argues that the Braves might be better off keeping BA’s 70th ranked overall Brandon Jones (OF) at Triple-A this season. The thought is that allowing him to play every day will be better for his development than sticking him in a major league platoon with Matt Diaz.
• Jesus Flores has not lost his status as the Catcher of the future for the Nationals; the future has just gotten a little further away. It seems he will spend at least a portion of the season at Triple-A due to the signings of Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada.
• Nolan Reimold could see some playing time in Baltimore this season, just not in April. With CF and RF firmly occupied by Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, the only option for Reimold is in Left. Luke Scott will have to really struggle or get injured for the Orioles to make the call for Reimold this season.
• Look for Jed Lowrie to be this year’s version of Jacoby Ellsbury, a late season call-up with immediate impact. Lowrie is currently playing shortstop, but could probably play any infield position and “can flat-out hit”.