ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tidewater native Brandon Lowe was drafted by Tampa Bay in 2015, made his debut with the Rays three years later and has hit five homers in 29 postseason games for the franchise.
He is a veteran presence in the Tampa Bay clubhouse, gives back to the community and is aware that his tenure of nearly a decade could be nearing its end, though he hopes that is not the case. A former standout for Nansemond River High and the University of Maryland, Lowe is in the last year of his contract with the Rays.
“There is not a thought to it. There is no point to talk about it,” said Lowe, 30, standing by his locker in the Tampa Bay clubhouse before last Friday’s game with Cleveland. “The only thing I can do is go out and play to the best of my ability and make their decision tough; there are some (club) options at the end of this. Right now, there is no point to even think about it. No positives ever come out of looking that far into the future.”
He is trying to make it hard on the Rays to sever ties by producing a strong second half. The infielder/outfielder/designated hitter is batting .248 with an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of .808 and nine homers. He had three hits in a win over the Yankees on July 11.
Lowe has five career walk-off homers and three since the start of the 2023 season, which leads the majors. The lefty hitter has 114 career homers, putting him in the top 15 on the all-time list among Virginia natives. The leaders are Norfolk native Justin Upton and Willie Horton, a native of Arno in southwest Virginia’s Wise County, who each have 325 after ending their careers with Seattle.
Tampa Bay has several current Virginia ties.
Rays reliever Kevin Kelly, a product of James Madison, is in his second season with Tampa Bay and has a connection with Lowe — both were recruited by Marlin Ikenberry, the current coach for the Dukes.
Ikenberry was at VMI when he tried to lure Lowe to Lexington. “VMI was my only offer until Maryland came along,” Lowe said.
Other Virginia ties with the Rays include outfielder Nathaniel Lowe (no relation), who was born in Norfolk but grew up in Georgia, and assistant pitching and rehab coach Rick Knapp, who pitched for Virginia Tech and in the minors with the Salem Rangers while with Texas.
“He is a great guy,” Kelly said of Brandon Lowe, who hit his ninth homer of the season on Sunday.
Overcoming injuries
Going back to his amateur days, Lowe has had to overcome injuries.
He was injured just before he was to make his debut with the Terrapins, and he was hurt again (broken fibula) just days before he was drafted by the Rays while facing Virginia in an NCAA Super Regional.
While in The Show, he has been on the injured list several times. The most recent was in April when he had a right oblique strain. He did a rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham before being activated May 20.
“It’s fair to assume he’s going to miss some time,” manager Kevin Cash told reporters in April after the injury.
Lowe’s wife, Madison, who played softball for Maryland, has been very supportive.
“Injuries are worst case in our business, and nobody is excited or happy when they get hurt,” Lowe said. “It is one of those things that people you surround yourself with … I am thankful I have a wife who really understands and she has been through the life a little bit with softball. She understands what is going on. It is nice to have a rock to lean on in tough times.”
And there are people in the training staff working behind the scenes when an injury hits.
“It is an army. No one really understands it. The training staff and everybody here … then there are the people (helping) when you got out on rehab. I remember being in their shoes, being in the minor leagues and having a middle infielder come in. I lost playing time (in the minors) because a (major league) guy was doing rehab. There is a lot that goes into that nobody really understands,” Lowe said.
On the field, the first half was not typical of recent Tampa Bay clubs. The Rays are 48-48, 10 games behind American League East-leading Baltimore, nine games behind the second-place New York Yankees and 5.5 games behind Boston, which holds the AL’s final wild-card playoff spot.
“It has been a little different than what we are used to; we have played great baseball the past six years,” Lowe said. “To be around .500 at this point is a strange position for us to be at this point. We have (66) games to go and can be looking at a very different team here down the stretch. I think we will be just fine. We had a rough first half.”
Community involvement
Lowe and his wife have a son, Emmett, who is 17 months, and their second child is due in November.
After fertility challenges before having their first child, the couple became involved in a local organization that supports those in a similar situation.
“We are running a campaign with Baby Quest Foundation,” Lowe said. “A bunch of memorabilia is getting auctioned off. I have reached out to a lot of friends on different teams and got a lot of stuff signed. The proceeds that go from the auction go to that. We are the process of getting all that stuff sold to see how much money we have raised.”
The Rays stress community involvement with their players and other employees.
“That was one of the first things we talked about when I signed my contract,” said Lowe, who was an AL All-Star in 2019 and hit 39 homers two years later. “You are here long-term and you are kind of set up (financially). The next thing is what do you want to do for the community? We had done our Lowe’s Legends campaign where we brought Little League teams in. We have gone to hospitals and Boys and Girls Clubs. We have done a lot of work with the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.”
For several years, Lowe has played for Cash.
“He is a great human being — one of the best things you can have in a manager — and he is easy to play for,” Lowe said. “He has his jokes; he has fun with the guys. But he has the best in mind for each guy in the clubhouse. I have been playing for him for six years and it is one of those things that you don’t second-guess his choices. You understand he wants to win as much as everybody else does. He understands how the clubhouse works; he was a player himself and knows what the game is like and how difficult it is at times. He has made it easy to play for the last six years.”
Lowe hopes that he a chance for Year 7 in 2025.
Editor’s note: Harrisonburg native David Driver covered the Washington Nationals during their 2019 World Series season for The Washington Times. He is the co-author of “From Tidewater to the Shenandoah: Snapshots from Virginia’s Rich Baseball Legacy,” available on Amazon and the author’s website at daytondavid.com
Virginia native leaders in MLB home runs
Nansemond River High grad Brandon Lowe is 12th on the all-time list for homers among Virginia natives. Here is the list, with name, birthplace, and MLB homers:
T1. Justin Upton, Norfolk, 325
T1. Willie Horton, Arno, 325
3. David Wright, Norfolk, 242
4. Todd Hundley, Martinsville, 202
5. Michael Cuddyer, Norfolk, 197
T6. Melvin “BJ” Upton, Norfolk, 164
T6. Jim Lemon, Covington, 164
8. Brandon Inge, Lynchburg, 152
9. George McQuinn, Arlington, 135
10. Willard Marshall, Richmond, 130
11. Michael Tucker, South Boston, 125
12. Brandon Lowe, Newport News, 114
13. Jackie Bradley Jr., Richmond, 109
14. Chris Taylor, Virginia Beach, 107
15. Granny Hamner, Richmond, 104
Source: Baseballreference.com, author’s research.
Note: Lowe’s five postseason homers rank him among the top 10 among Virginia natives. … Horton and Justin Upton both hit homer No. 325 while playing for Seattle. … Taylor began his career with the Mariners. … Ryan Zimmerman, a Kellam High graduate with 284 home runs, was born in North Carolina.
