Brandon Lowe Powers the Tampa Bay Rays to Victory in Game Two of the World Series

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By Larry Daniels

Brandon Lowe was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the third round of the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft. The Rays took a bit of a chance on Brandon, due to a broken fibula two days prior to the draft in a NCAA super regional loss to the Virginia Cavaliers. Lowe broke in with the Bowling Green Hot Rods in 2016, going 107 games, batting .248 with five dingers and 42 RBIs. In the 2017 Minor League season, Brandon tore up the Florida State League with the Charlotte Stone Crabs, hitting .311 with nine dingers and 46 RBIs in 90 games. Lowe was named MVP of the FSL after that performance. He also earned a promotion to the Montgomery Biscuits, posting a respectable .253 average in 23 games. Considering he hadn’t seen the new league’s pitching before, that was a good showing.

Brandon began the 2018 Minor League season with the Montgomery Biscuits, and played for the Durham Bulls of the Class AAA International League as well. Lowe was named to the MLB pipeline second team of the year after hitting .297, with 22 dingers in 380 at bats. Wait! That was THE Durham Bulls featured in the Kevin Costner movie Bull Durham? Yes, Brandon got called up to the “show” from the same team! This is the part where fiction meets fact. It gets dream-like as we approach present-day for Mr. Lowe.

The Rays brought up Brandon on August 4th, 2018. Lowe ended the 2018 season hitting .233, with six dingers and 25 RBIs in 148 at bats. He spent most of the year playing second base and chipped-in 15 games in the outfield. Lowe had to have above average defensive skills for the Rays to use him in this fashion. 2019 was Brandon’s breakout year. He was named as a reserve in the 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star game in July of that year. Leg injuries limited Brandon from completing a full season. Despite only appearing in 82 games, Lowe belted out a .270 average, with 17 dingers and 51 RBIs. If we basically double his HRs and RBIs, a full season at that pace would have given him 34 HRs and 102 RBIs. Very gaudy numbers for a second baseman. He finished 3rd in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

In 2020, Brandon picked up right where he left off. Lowe was named AL Player of the Week after hitting .448, with four dingers during the second week of August. He finished the Covid-19 shortened season hitting .269, with 14 dingers and 37 RBIs in just 60 games. If you stretch those numbers out for a full season, Lowe is looking at 30-40 dingers with 100 RBIs. Great numbers for a second baseman. Brandon was named the team MVP by the Tampa Bay members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. In the Playoffs, Lowe went into a slump, going 6-56 with one dinger through to the first game of the World Series. Last week, near the end of the ALDS, Brandon looked to the hitting guru in his life, Hunter Bledsoe, along with others for help with his swing. “What do you guys see?” All of them could see the problem. There was too much slack in Brandon’s posture.

Lowe took the information he gathered from his hitting coaches and put it to use in Game 2 of the 2020 World Series. In the first inning, with a solid foundation at the plate, Brandon took a 3-1 pitch to the opposite field 410 feet; a massive blast. In the 5th inning, with a runner on, Lowe took an 0-2 outside pitch the opposite way again. His hips cleared and swung with a ferocious hack. The ball cleared the left field wall. That HR turned out to be the game, winning RBIs for the Rays.
It is a long way from the Durham Bulls to Major League stardom. Brandon had help from coaches for his swing and obvious strong support from friends and family. Way to be #8! Rays fans will remember those World Series blasts for a long time!

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