Brandon

Lowe

The 30-year-old slugger will return for an eighth season with the Rays after slashing .244/.311/.473 with 21 homers, 58 RBI and five stolen bases across 107 games with the club during the 2024 campaign. While he has never gotten back to the elite power production that he provided during the 2021 season, he has done more than enough to justify the Rays picking up his very reasonable option.

Lowe raised his batting average to .244 with the three-hit effort. He has a .784 OPS and 58 RBI on the year. Lowe has hit at least 20 home runs in three of the last four seasons. There are club options in Lowe’s contract for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

Lowe got the Rays on the board with a two-run single in the third inning off Reese Olson. He also singled again to raise his average to a still middling .242 on the year. While he hasn’t help much in that category, Lowe has registered an impressive .476 slugging mark, and remains one of the better power bats at a middle-infield position.

Lowe drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the third inning. He’s hit .244 with 19 home runs and 54 RBI in 99 games this year. Last year, he hit .231 with 21 home runs and 68 RBI in 109 games. Lowe has played at least 140 games once and hit 39 home runs with 99 RBI and 97 runs scored. He could probably hit at least 30 home runs if he played at least 140 games again, but it’s anyone’s guess if he’ll actually stay on the field that much in the future.

The Rays’ offense has been downright nonexistent for months now. Lowe’s two singles accounted for half of their total hits and none of them went for extra bases. Nevertheless, Lowe has 18 homers and a .795 OPS in 96 games this season while flying well under the radar.

Lowe gave the Rays a 1-0 lead with a solo blast in the first inning. He’s now up to 18 homers of the year and 51 RBI, and he’s slugging a strong .485 on the year. The .244 average and .322 OBP aren’t ideal, but they can play when you have the two numbers above.

Lowe didn’t start over the weekend because of his sore finger, and he was limited to pinch-hitting appearances with the Rays facing lefties the last two days. He’s DHing and batting second against the Phillies tonight.

Lowe’s home run was his 17th of the year. He hit a pinch-hit game-tying solo home run off Carlos Estevez in the ninth inning. Lowe returned after missing a few games with right middle finger inflammation. Not much has changed with Lowe. He’s been a solid hitter when healthy, but has amassed only 319 at-bats this year due to injury. Lowe is hitting .250 with a .798 OPS and 50 RBI on the season.

Lowe will miss his second straight contest on Saturday after being unavailable for Friday’s game as he deals with right middle finger inflammation. The Rays are trying to lessen his workload at the moment and limit the number of swings he takes as that is reportedly aggravating the issue.

It sounds like it’s something that’s been bothering Lowe for a little while and that he’s going to have to manage the rest of the way. If you picked him up during his surge in July and the first half of August, it’s time to drop him now. Jonathan Aranda should get some extra playing time with Lowe occasionally sitting.