The Rays announced they’ve placed second baseman Brandon Lowe on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 12, with lower back discomfort. Backstop René Pinto was recalled from Triple-A Durham to take the open active roster spot.
It’s the third IL stint of what has to be a frustrating season for Lowe. He suffered a stress reaction in his lower back in mid-May, an injury that required a multi-week shutdown and two-month absence. He returned in mid-July but went back on the shelf with a calf contusion in late August. That second stint proved brief, as Lowe was reinstated after a minimal 10-day absence last week, but he’s now again headed back to the injured list.
The Rays haven’t indicated how long they anticipate Lowe being out of action, but it’s an ill-timed absence as the end of the regular season nears. Tampa Bay trails the Yankees by 5 1/2 games in the AL East and is unlikely to capture the division title, but they’re battling for Wild Card position. The Rays, Mariners and Blue Jays occupy the AL’s three Wild Card spots and are all within half a game of one another. With a 5 1/2 cushion over the nearest non-playoff team, the Orioles, it seems likely all three will make it to the postseason. Securing the top Wild Card spot entitles a team to home-field advantage in the first-round playoff series, with all three games (if necessary) taking place at the higher seed’s ballpark.
Tampa Bay’s efforts to secure that position will be dealt a blow with Lowe again hitting the shelf. Isaac Paredes, Jonathan Aranda and Taylor Walls look like the top candidates to step in at the keystone, with the club losing some infield depth yesterday when Yu Chang was nabbed off waivers by the Red Sox. Lowe isn’t having his best season, but his .221/.308/.383 line still checks in a hair above league average by measure of wRC+.
Once again putting the Lowe in Lower back discomfort
Lowe blow bruh!
It’s Brandon Lowe wow. And
Nate and Josh Lowe low.
How bad is the hitting across MLB when that stat line is above average…
Aranda the bases , Jonathan went after hitting his first mlb homer tonight
Lowe didn’t return from a calf contusion IL most recently, he returned from an elbow contusion IL.
He was HBP in the elbow by former teammate (and friend it would seem) Michael Wacha on August 26.
Lowe can’t catch a break this season it seems.
Its a testament to the Rays depth that they can be tied with Seattle for the second Wild Card spot with their starting lineup up the middle(Zunino/Lowe/Franco/Kiermaier) missing 333 games combined so far this season
Paredes is a nice fallback option.
Not really. Guy had one phenomenal stretch that ballooned his stats but other than that he’s been hitting like .220 at best.
It seems like everyone is hitting around .220. Chicks still dig the long ball I guess.
For all the keyboard tuff guys on this site that have never played competitve sports. Which is 99.3% of the commentators overall. Let me explain whats happening with B. LOWE. He has a stress fracture in his L4. Its the same injuury that Jazz Chisholm has. Its also the same injury that my 10u son has. When I took my kid to All Childrens hospital in St. Pete, they said tbis injury is common with offensive lineman in football, gymnist, golfers, and baseball players. I asked why baseball players and he said, the uptick from baseball is because the kids these days are playing year round. Its detrimental to thier bodies especially for tbose that havent hit growth spurts. And I believe its true.
First of all, you don’t have to have experience playing a sport in order to be knowledgeable about it or to comment on it. Most writers in MLB, including myself, have not played sports at a competitive level. That said, sorry about your son, but injuries happen. That’s why teams like the Rays win – they have depth.
He’s the gingerbread man.
Man, that slash line being slightly above league average speaks loudly for how bad offense is throughout MLB.