Lowe out for rest of season
Published 10:27 pm Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Former Nansemond River High School baseball star Brandon Lowe is out for the rest of the regular season for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Lowe, a Suffolk native, has had an eventful year. He competed in his first full regular season in Major League Baseball after spending years in the minors.
When he was called up last fall to finish out the season in the majors, he took full advantage. Lowe was impressive enough in his short stint that the Rays decided to sign him to a lucrative extension before the 2019 season started.
Lowe started his rookie season on fire as he quickly became one of the standout players in the American League. He was playing so well that early and mid-season polls had him as a frontrunner for American League Rookie of the Year honors. He even earned himself his first career MLB All-Star appearance back in July. Due to a leg injury, Lowe was unable to play.
A couple of weeks after the All-Star break Lowe still wasn’t healthy, and after rehabilitating and doing small things on the field the past couple of weeks, he suffered a different leg injury. The Rays announced that they would be shutting him down for the rest of the regular season, though Lowe has left the door open to returning for the postseason if Tampa Bay clinches a playoff berth.
“After working my butt off to come back and being only a couple of weeks away from returning is extremely frustrating,” Lowe told the media. “It’s extremely frustrating to have this setback. My goal is to come back and help this team in the postseason. My entire focus turns to what I can do to get back quicker, stronger, and healthier.”
At the time of Lowe’s injury, he was leading the team in hits and home runs. He had a batting average of .276 to go with 40 runs, 16 homers and 49 RBIs. In his time with the Warriors, Lowe helped them to district championships, and as a senior, he was the district and region Player of the Year, and an All-State selection. He went on to star in college at the University of Maryland before getting drafted in the third round by the Rays.