Brandon Lowe

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Brandon Lowe
Brandon Lowe (48266193931).jpg
Lowe in 2019
Tampa Bay Rays – No. 8
Second baseman
Born: (1994-07-06) July 6, 1994 (age 27)
Newport News, Virginia
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 5, 2018, for the Tampa Bay Rays
MLB statistics
(through 2021 season)
Batting average.255
Home runs76
Runs batted in212
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Brandon Norman Lowe (/laʊ/ LAU;[1] born July 6, 1994) is an American professional baseball second baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Amateur career[]

Lowe attended Nansemond River High School in Suffolk, Virginia, where he played on the school's baseball team. He led Nansemond to a district championship as a junior and a district title as a senior, he was also named first-team all-state, first-team all-region, and first-team all-district that year.[2] He committed to University of Maryland, College Park to play college baseball for the Maryland Terrapins.[3] Two days before the first game of his freshman year, Lowe tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which caused him to be redshirted and miss the entire season.[4] In his redshirt freshman season, Lowe was named third-team all-ACC after leading the Maryland Terrapins in batting average (.348), on-base percentage (.464) and slugging percentage (.464).[5] In his sophomore season, Lowe led the Terrapins in hits, walks, runs, and doubles, as well as finishing second in runs batted in. Two days before the 2015 Major League Baseball draft, Lowe suffered a broken fibula as the Terrapins lost to the Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA super regional.[6]

Professional career[]

Minor leagues[]

Lowe was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the third round of the draft.[7][8] He recovered from his injury, debuting in 2016 with the Bowling Green Hot Rods. He finished the season batting .248, with five home runs and 42 RBIs in 107 games.

Lowe started 2017 with the Charlotte Stone Crabs and was promoted to the Montgomery Biscuits during the season. With Charlotte he hit .311/.403/.524 with nine home runs and 46 RBIs in 90 games and was named the MVP of the Florida State League.[9] With the Montgomery Biscuits, he slashed .253/.270/.389 in 23 games. After the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League and was selected to play in the Fall Stars Game.[10] Lowe began the 2018 season with the Biscuits and also played for the Durham Bulls of the Class AAA International League. Lowe was named to the 2018 MLB Pipeline second team of the year after hitting .297/.391/.558 with 22 home runs in 380 at bats.[11]

Tampa Bay Rays[]

Lowe in 2020

2018[]

The Rays promoted Lowe to the major leagues on August 4, 2018.[12] Lowe recorded his first big league hit on August 15. His first career home run was on August 28.[13][14] Lowe ended the 2018 season slashing .233/.324/.450 with six home runs and 25 runs batted in over 148 plate appearances.[15] While spending majority of his time at second base, Lowe played 15 games in the outfield.

2019[]

On March 20, 2019, Lowe signed a six-year contract extension, with two options, with the Rays for a reported $24 million guaranteed.[16] On April 12, 2019 Lowe went 2-for-5 against the Toronto Blue Jays recording his first multi-homer game of his career.[17] On July 3, 2019, Lowe was named as a reserve for the 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, this was his first career All-Star appearance. [18] On August 21, Lowe suffered a left quad strain while rehabbing with Durham, but he returned to the majors on September 22. Lowe finished the 2019 season hitting .270/.336/.514 with 17 home runs and 51 RBIs in 82 games. He finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting.[19]

2020[]

Lowe was named AL Player of the Week by MLB.com after hitting .448 with 4 home runs during the second week of August.[20] He finished the season hitting .269/.362/.554 with 14 home runs and 37 RBIs during the shortened 60-game season. Lowe was named team MVP by the Tampa Bay members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.[21] The Rays finished the year with the best record in the American League. In the playoffs, Lowe struggled mightily, going 6–56 with one home run through the first game of the World Series.[22] Despite his slump, Lowe never batted lower than the third spot in the batting order. In-game 2 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lowe broke out of his slump, hitting two home runs. His second home run set a record for most home runs by a team in the postseason.[23] He became the first Ray and the 6th-second baseman to hit two home runs in a World Series game.[24]

Personal life[]

Lowe grew up in Virginia as a fan of the New York Yankees.[25] He is married to former Maryland college softball player Madison Martin.[26] The two met in college when they were both student athletes at the University of Maryland.[27] They reside in Nashville during the offseason.[28]

References[]

  1. ^ Curtis, Charles. "Here is how to pronounce the last name of Rays star Brandon Lowe," USA Today, Thursday, October 22, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2021
  2. ^ "University of Maryland Athletics". umterps.com. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  3. ^ Robinson, Tom. "A new high for Lowe at Maryland". PilotOnline.com. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  4. ^ Wood, Norm. "Suffolk's Brandon Lowe recovers from knee injury to become Maryland's top bat". dailypress.com. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  5. ^ "University of Maryland Athletics". umterps.com. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  6. ^ Compton, Michael. "Lowe happy to be back on the field". BGDailyNews.com. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  7. ^ "Rays select Maryland 2B Brandon Lowe at No. 87". Major League Baseball. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  8. ^ Stubbs, Roman (June 9, 2015). "Maryland's Brandon Lowe selected by Tampa Bay Rays in third round of MLB draft". Retrieved November 6, 2017 – via www.WashingtonPost.com.
  9. ^ "Rays' Lowe named Florida State League MVP". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  10. ^ "Tampa Bay Rays' Arizona Fall League overview". Tampa Bay Rays. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  11. ^ "2018 Pipeline's Prospect Team of the Year". MLB.com. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  12. ^ "For starters: Rays vs. White Sox, with Blake Snell back on the mound, Brandon Lowe called up". 4 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Tampa Bay Rays 6, New York Yankees 1". FOX Sports. 2018-08-15. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  14. ^ "Marc Topkin on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  15. ^ "Brandon Lowe Stats | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  16. ^ "Rays Extend Brandon Lowe". mlbtraderumors.com. March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  17. ^ "Rays' Brandon Lowe: Goes deep twice". CBS Sports. April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  18. ^ "Rays Brandon Lowe named to AL All-Star team, but will he be able to play?". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  19. ^ Toribio, Juan (November 11, 2019). "Lowe finishes third in AL Rookie of Year voting". MLB.com. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  20. ^ "Rays' Brandon Lowe wins AL Player of the Week award". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  21. ^ "Rays' Brandon Lowe named MVP by Tampa Bay baseball writers". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  22. ^ "Rays set playoff record on Lowe's 2nd HR". MLB.com. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  23. ^ "Rays set playoff record on Lowe's 2nd HR". MLB.com. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  24. ^ "Rays set playoff record on Lowe's 2nd HR". MLB.com. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  25. ^ Toribio, Juan. "Rays get best of Yanks as rivalry turns bitter". MLB.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  26. ^ Topkin, Marc (March 9, 2019). "Rays Journal: Another wow blast by Brandon Lowe". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  27. ^ "Brandon Lowe & Madison Lowe rake". The Ray Tank. March 9, 2019. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  28. ^ "Durham's Brandon Lowe, who grew up in Suffolk, might be the hottest hitter in baseball".

External links[]

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