LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — As the Rays went through the offseason without — as you may have heard — addressing their top priority of adding a left-handed impact hitter, the focus shifted to giving Josh Lowe another chance to fill that role.
Which now seems to plop a fair amount of pressure on the 25-year-old outfielder, whose two 2022 stints led to only a .221 average and .627 OPS, to step up.
“It would help a lot,” baseball operations president Erik Neander said. “Our job security would be better. So, ‘Go Josh!’”
Neander was joking — to a degree, anyway. But unless an unexpected trade emerges this spring, the Rays will be counting heavily on Lowe to show that he is ready to contribute.
And he welcomes the opportunity.
“I just think that shows the trust they have in me and the trust that I have in myself,” Lowe said before Wednesday’s first official spring workout. “Go out there and just be myself and know what I can do and just let it be all out there on the field.”
Lowe had his challenges last year, such as adjusting to the consistent velocity of big-league pitchers. And he made some changes to his approach at the plate.
“He’s narrowed up (his stance), he’s lowered his hands, he’s getting more compact (in his swing),” said hitting coach Chad Mottola. “He’s trying to pull the ball a little more often. Some things that will be quicker to the 100 mph (pitches) that we’re seeing day in, day out.”
Lowe is also using a slightly different bat, taking advantage of advanced custom bat-fitting technology that can involve redistributing the weight amid other data points, similar to how golf clubs are handled.
“There’s things that happened that are very encouraging,” Mottola said. “And the ownership that he’s taking of the year he had and that we’ve got to make changes, he’s doing that.”
There are some less tangible changes that could help, too.
One is that Lowe is still very close with his older brother, Nathaniel, the former Ray who just had a breakout season with the Rangers, hitting .302 with 27 homers and an .851 OPS while winning Silver Slugger honors. The two talk often about the game.
“A lot of it is to just kind of keep going,” Josh Lowe said. “You’ve got to learn who you are as a player.”
Secondly, former Triple-A manager Brady Williams, who saw Lowe showcase his “game-changing” talents at Durham, was promoted to major-league third base coach and can supply counsel and guidance, and maybe some good luck.
“No offense to (former third base, now bench coach) Rodney (Linares),” Lowe said, “But, yeah, maybe Brady’s got some more hits in him.”
Like Mottola, Williams is confident Lowe can make the necessary adjustments, both physical and mental, such as realizing he belongs at the big-league level.
“You hope that that familiarity and the comfort level that he knows that I know, that I’ve seen him at his best, hopefully that eliminates some anxiety of trying to do too much,” Williams said.
“We all develop at different stages. He’s had a tremendous career so far in the minor leagues. Now it’s just that next step of getting over the hump in the major leagues.”
Lowe was a surprise addition to the opening day roster last year when the Rays traded Austin Meadows. But he hit only .188 with a .601 OPS, striking out 27 times in 71 plate appearances, and was sent down after playing in just 19 games.
Lowe rediscovered his groove at Durham and got another shot with a late-June call-up. He struggled initially, then got hot in mid-July, hitting .326 with an .827 OPS over 13 games. But the Rays, battling for a playoff spot, decided not to wait to see if it was real. They traded for veteran outfielder David Peralta on July 30 and sent Lowe down again, further adding to what he termed a “frustrating” season.
“Last year was a stepping stone,” Lowe said. “The first time I was up, things didn’t go my way. The second time I was there, I started to prove myself a little more. I learned from that opportunity, took a lot of that in the offseason, how to prepare for this year.”
Now, he hopes to be ready to show he was the answer all along.
