The Rays have officially promoted infielder Brandon Lowe to the major league roster, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times was first to report. Daniel Robertson has been placed on the DL to accommodate.
The 24-year-old Lowe is a homegrown product, having been selected by the Rays in the third round of 2015’s amateur draft. He’s dominated at every level of the minors since joining the organization, most recently posting a commanding .304/.380/.613 batting line at Triple-A with 14 homers in just 205 plate appearances. And while his 22.9% strikeout rate at that level is a bit high, it’s far from the levels of some of the power threats in today’s game. Overall, his performance was good for a 177 wRC+.
Baseball America ranked Lowe as the 16th-best prospect in a deep Rays farm system prior to the 2018 season, touting his above-average bat speed and penchant for being aggressive on pitches in the strike zone. At the midpoint of the season, MLB Pipeline has Lowe all the way up to ninth in the Tampa Bay organization. The publication raved about his hitting ability and “consistent pop to the gaps” with sneaky raw power and loads of patience. His ceiling will be limited by the likelihood that he becomes a solid yet unspectacular defender at second base.
This dude has shown some pop this year, 22 HRs combined in AA/AAA.
He’s a talented prospect, fangraphs ranked him in the 70s range on their updated list. I really think TB can compete next season with young talented guys like him, Adames, Bauers, Meadows… just need a catcher and a little more pitching, but they are as good at finding good young pitchers as anyone in baseball.
Rays acquired M. Perez as that young catcher.
He’s good, he could be the answer there next year. Guess we’ll get a good idea over the next two months.
I like Perez but as a quality back up who can catch around 30% of the time and fill in capably if an injury occurs. The Rays’ payroll next year will be next to nothing and very low for the next several seasons. I would like to see them use that payroll flexibility to make a run at Yasmani Grandal.
Therealryan thought the same thing
I agree
At the start of the year I was dreading being a Rays fan. Now it’s actually kind of interesting watching it all happen. With all that pitching getting healthy….2020 could be fun.
As an M’s fan, if I had to guess who I think will get the 2nd WC next season, I would guess the Rays… but LAA, OAK, SEA, TOR, MIN all could be competitive next year too
I think Toronto is probably still a year away but Guerrero and Bichette are going to transform that team once they’re up soon
The rays have a great team lined up. Bauer is a solid defensive and high potential firstbasemen. We’ve got *plenty* of shortstops and second basemen so that will be no problem. Christian Arroyo at third. Acquired Perez who shows solid signs for the future and PLENTY of outfield, Keirmeyer, Smith, newly acquired Meadows, and Phat just to name a few. We’ve also got a few more high level prospects. Pitching is getting healthy, And we’ve got enough outfield and infield prospect to spare if we need more pitching. Could easily see a high chance of a playoff run within the next two years, maybe a world series within the next 4?
Rays have become a very competitive team with a low budget. I enjoy watching them play.
The Rays need to acquire some fans over at Tropicana. But building a nice young team
If they build it….they will come. At least they did in 08.
so thought i would go add this guy in a deep 20 team league on yahoo. almost added the wrong guy, apparently the rays have half the lowes in all of baseball. they have a josh lowe and a nate lowe but no brandon lowe on yahoo? whats that all about?