Tampa Bay Rays 2020 Player Profile: Brandon Lowe

Tampa Bay Rays’ young second baseman had a breakout 2019. Here’s a rundown of his stats and what to expect in 2020.

Tampa Bay Rays‘ fans should be extremely optimistic about what the future holds for one of their brightest young stars, 2019 All-Star, Brandon Lowe.

Brandon Lowe
Position: 2B
Bats: L
Throws: R
Height: 5-10
Weight: 185
Birthdate: 07/06/1994
Birthplace: Newport News, Virginia
College: University of Maryland
Drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 3rd round of the 2015 MLB June amateur draft
2019 Salary: $1,000,000
2020 Salary: $1,500,000
Free Agent: 2024 (team option for 2025 and 2026)

2019 Stats
WAR: 2.9
AVG: .270
OBP: .336
SLG: .514
OPS: .850
Games: 82
AB: 296
R: 42
Hits: 80
2B: 17
3B: 2
HR: 17
RBI: 51
BB: 25
SB: 5
CS: 0
SO: 113
OPS+: 124

Splits
VS LHP: .278/.355/.543
VS RHP: .242/.265/.409

Fun Facts

• In 2019, before his injury, Lowe was on pace to hit over 30 HR and drive in 100 RBI. All while maintaining an OPS well above .800.
• Finished 3rd in AL Rookie of the Year voting last season despite having played in only 82 games.
• Showing his versatility, Lowe has played 27 games in his career at positions other than 2B including 22 in the outfield, five at 1B, and four at DH.
• Placed 5th in mlb.com’s list of top 10-second baseman for 2020 earlier this month.
• One of only five players from the 2015 draft to be named an All-Star to this point

2020 Steamer Projections

.247/.321/.447
144 GP
611 PA
25 HR
78 RBI
75 R
7 SB

Staying healthy will be the key to a successful year for Lowe and the Rays. The slugging second baseman showed what he was capable of at the plate last season in just 82 games, so there should be a lot of excitement from Rays’ fans everywhere about the upcoming season for Brandon Lowe.

If Lowe can manage another all-star appearance this year he would join rare company as just the seventh Rays’ player with multiple career all-star bids. At second base there are not many guys with his kind of power, a big year in 2020 should give him the kind of mainstream recognition a player of his caliber deserves.

*Stats for this profile were collected from ESPN, Steamer, baseball reference, and Fangraphs.