Brandon Lowe

Brandon Lowe

31-Year-Old Second Baseman2B
Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 Fantasy Outlook
Lowe had his best overall season in 2025 since that 2021 outlier season, but we should be more impressed with how he did it. Conventional wisdom would lead you to believe he loved his temporary home park and took full advantage of its dimensions, yet Lowe was a better hitter on the road, as he hit 35 points higher away from Tampa and had one more home run on the road in 62 games than he did at home in 72 games. Lowe still cannot hit lefties and is often benched for it, but hitting .280/.335/.538 with 26 homers against righties is what drove his overall value in 2025. Lowe has a $11.50 million club option this year, which is an easy pickup for the inconsistent offensive club, but this will also likely be the last season Lowe remains with the club because he will almost certainly be dealt somewhere by the deadline this season. The move back into Tropicana Field should not impact him as much as potential move away from it. Finally, his defense at second base may force a discussion about a position change with his next club. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#167
ADP
Signed a six-year, $24 million contract with the Rays in March of 2019. Rays exercised $10.5 million team options for 2025 in November of 2024. Rays exercised $11.5 million team option for 2026 in November of 2025. Traded to the Pirates in December of 2025.
Homers in win
2BPittsburgh Pirates
March 29, 2026
Lowe went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and two walks in Sunday's 4-3 extra-inning win over the Mets.
Analysis
Lowe reached base four times, highlighted by a solo shot that put the Pirates up 2-1 in the third inning. The 31-year-old has now homered three times in as many games to open the campaign, reaching base in seven of his 14 plate appearances. He should see near-everyday run in the heart of the order and has topped the 20-homer mark in each of the four seasons in which he's played over 100 games.
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Batting Stats
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2026 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
2
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2024
 
 
+35%
OPS vs RHP
2026
 
 
-100%
OPS vs RHP
2025
 
 
+59%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+8%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2024vs Left .627 224 27 9 25 0 .212 .250 .377
Since 2024vs Right .848 768 111 46 120 8 .266 .329 .519
2026vs Left .000 5 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
2026vs Right 2.921 9 3 3 4 0 .714 .778 2.143
2025vs Left .548 147 19 5 9 0 .194 .231 .317
2025vs Right .873 406 60 26 74 3 .280 .335 .538
2024vs Left .835 72 8 4 16 0 .265 .306 .529
2024vs Right .772 353 48 17 42 5 .240 .312 .461
More Splits View More Split Stats
Minor League Splits View Minor League Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2024
 
 
+16%
OPS on Road
2026
 
 
-100%
OPS on Road
2025
 
 
+14%
OPS on Road
2024
 
 
+12%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2024Home .737 488 64 23 66 4 .238 .293 .444
Since 2024Away .856 504 74 32 79 4 .269 .329 .526
2026Home 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2026Away 1.750 14 3 3 4 0 .417 .500 1.250
2025Home .735 283 40 15 39 0 .240 .279 .456
2025Away .837 270 39 16 44 3 .275 .337 .500
2024Home .738 205 24 8 27 4 .235 .312 .426
2024Away .824 220 32 13 31 1 .252 .309 .515
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Stat Review
How does Brandon Lowe compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.26
 
BB Rate
6.9%
 
K Rate
26.9%
 
BABIP
.297
 
ISO
.221
 
AVG
.256
 
OBP
.307
 
SLG
.477
 
OPS
.785
 
wOBA
.339
 
Exit Velocity
91.1 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
37.1%
 
Barrels/PA
8.5%
 
Expected BA
.257
 
Expected SLG
.474
 
Sprint Speed
22.2 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
38.2%
 
Line Drive %
23.1%
 
Fly Ball %
38.7%
 
Prospect Rankings History
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Brandon Lowe See More
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Brandon Lowe See More
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Lowe is entering a crossroads with Tampa Bay as the guaranteed years of his contract extension are over and he is now playing on a year-to-year basis on two club options. 2021 remains the high-water mark for Lowe's career, as he has struggled with injuries in each of the past three seasons. He has several measures in the 80th percentile or better but the swing and miss rates limit the batting average ceiling as Lowe has failed to hit over .250 since 2020. Lowe is about as steady as they come statistically, but his medical issues have included an oblique strain, a toe infection, a finger injury, a fractured kneecap, and a stress reaction in his back in recent seasons. The club did use him at first base while his foot bothered him this past summer and perhaps that becomes a new full-time home for him should Yandy Diaz get traded. Lowe's fantasy value would further decline moving off second base unless he solves his health troubles and/or finds a better home park.
Lowe's 2021 season happened, but boy howdy does it look like quite the outlier against his other seasons. That season, Lowe showed what he is capable of when his body can remain healthy, something it has not done since that season. 2022 was derailed by troubles in his back, and those resurfaced in 2023, albeit in a different form. Those struggled led to him hitting .209/.307/.401 in the first half of the season with 9 homers and 31 RBIs before the rest at the break was just was the doctor ordered. Lowe went on to hit .253/.348/.484 in the second half with 12 homers and 37 RBIs before a foul ball fractured his knee cap and ended his season. Beyond his health limitations, Lowe still struggles to hit lefties (1 HR, .170) and continues to strike out below the league average rate. He has the ability to hit 30 homers, but given we have seen just one full season from him as he enters his age 29 season, this is not a player you should be reaching for in drafts.
Lowe took hold of an everyday role in 2021 and delivered an .863 OPS and 39 homers in 149 games, but a nagging back injury limited him to only 65 games last year. He batted .221 but finished 2022 with a slightly-above-average 104 wRC+, and he also cut his strikeout rate nearly five percentage points to 22.9 percent. It's unclear exactly how much the back injury affected the second baseman's production, and it's worth keeping an eye on whether the issue resurfaces again during 2023. He fared better against left-handed pitching with a .793 OPS, though that success may not indicate much since it covered only 48 plate appearances. A return to his 2021 form shouldn't be expected, but Lowe should be in store for a bounceback season in 2023.
Lowe was finally given his chance to function as an everyday player, and he rewarded the club's faith in him by having a career year at the plate despite his flaws. He fell just shy of joining Marcus Semien last season, and historically Rogers Hornsby and Ryne Sandberg, as the only second basemen to ever hit 40 or more homers while scoring 100 runs and driving in 100. Around the excellent run production, Lowe still has too much swing-and-miss in his game (bottom seventh percentile), but the strikeout rate has improved over the ugly rate from the 2019 season. The full-time playing time also meant increased exposure to lefties, and while he did hit 10 of his 39 homers against lefties, his .198 average and 34.0% strikeout rate against them in 188 plate appearances explain why his batting average tumbled from the prior two seasons. His 2022 should be another above-average offense campaign, but it will be tough for him to hit even .250 against southpaws.
Lowe is 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, yet continues to barrel the baseball like few others in the game. Lowe hits what the local radio team calls "Helium Balls" because they tend to just stay in the air longer than most flyballs until they find the seats. For the first six weeks of the 2020 season, Lowe was a leading candidate for the AL MVP as he had a .273/.371/.612 slash line with 10 homers, 26 runs, and 27 RBI heading into September. He cooled off a bit with a .264/.345/.458 line the rest of the way, but then was downright abysmal in the playoffs, hitting .118/.183/.276 around the two-homer game in the World Series with a 34% strikeout rate. He hit .300 with six homers against lefties in 2020, somewhat quieting the concerns of him being platooned, but the postseason slump is definitely concerning. The strikeouts limit his batting average upside, but he does accept his walks and hits with power to all fields.
Lowe inked a six-year, $24 million extension last March, ensuring he would hold a vital role for the Rays right away after a strong 43-game cameo in 2018. Injuries effectively kept Lowe out of the mix after the All-Star break, but his big first half still made his season an unequivocal success. Initially tabbed for a utility role, the 25-year-old settled at the keystone and was among the top fantasy options at the position when healthy, slashing .276/.339/.523 with 16 homers and five steals before the break. If injuries hadn't intervened, Lowe may have been headed for a drop-off, as his 33.9 K% and .381 BABIP loomed as major signs that the .276 average would fall. Lowe's ability to rack up counting stats appears more repeatable based on his Statcast metrics, so as long as fantasy managers can deal with a sub-.250 average and the Rays benching him versus lefties, there's still value to be had.
It's difficult to make heads or tails of Lowe. He totaled 28 homers and posted wRC+ marks of 156 and 178 at Double-A and Triple-A, respectively, last season. Lowe was also 13% better than league average, offensively, in his first foray into the major leagues. However, he was relatively old for those levels in the minors and had a 25.7% strikeout rate in the big leagues. Statcast suggests he was a .220-ish hitter. His 77.4% zone-contact rate was way below league average and is a red flag looking ahead to 2019 and beyond. There is some speed here to go along with the pop, and Lowe has shown that he will accept his walks. After the Rays traded Mallex Smith, general manager Erik Neander said publicly that Lowe will be in the mix for a spot on the Opening Day roster, but a starting spot seems unlikely barring multiple injuries in front of him on the depth chart.
More Fantasy News
Shows out in Pirates debut
2BPittsburgh Pirates
March 26, 2026
Lowe went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI in Thursday's 11-7 loss against the Mets.
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Returning to lineup Saturday
2BPittsburgh Pirates
March 14, 2026
Lowe (back) is starting at second base and batting second in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Orioles.
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Out Wednesday with tight side
2BPittsburgh Pirates
Back
March 11, 2026
Lowe was scratched from the lineup for Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Orioles due to lower-body tightness, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
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Goes to Pirates in three-team deal
2BPittsburgh Pirates
December 19, 2025
The Pirates acquired Lowe, Jake Mangum and Mason Montgomery from the Rays on Friday in a three-team trade that sent Mike Burrows to the Astros and Jacob Melton and Anderson Brito to Tampa Bay, Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report.
Analysis
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Rays pick up $11.5 million option
2BTampa Bay Rays
November 6, 2025
The Rays exercised Lowe's $11.5 million option for 2026 on Thursday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Could be headed to Pittsburgh
2BTampa Bay Rays
December 19, 2025
The Astros, Pirates and Rays are in serious discussions about a three-team trade that would send Lowe, Jake Mangum and Mason Montgomery to Pittsburgh, Mike Burrows to Houston and Jacob Melton and Anderson Brito to Tampa Bay, Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report.
Analysis
The deal is not yet completed, but it seems close. Lowe is a perfect fit for the Pirates and would give some much-needed thump to their lineup, and at a position of need in second base. The 31-year-old slashed .256/.307/.477 with 31 home runs over 134 games with the Rays during the 2025 season. He is owed $11.5 million in 2026 in the final year of his contract.
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