Brandon Lowe


Brandon Norman Lowe is an American professional baseball second baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball.

Amateur career

Lowe attended Nansemond River High School in Suffolk, Virginia, where he played on the school's baseball team. He led Nansemond to a district championship as a junior and a district title as a senior, he was also named first-team all-state, first-team all-region, and first-team all-district that year. He committed to University of Maryland, College Park to play college baseball for the Maryland Terrapins. Two days before the first game of his freshman year, Lowe tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which caused him to be redshirted and miss the entire season. In his redshirt freshman season, Lowe was named third-team all-ACC after leading the Maryland Terrapins in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. In his sophomore season, Lowe led the Terrapins in hits, walks, runs, and doubles, as well as finishing second in runs batted in. Two days before the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft, Lowe suffered a broken fibula as the Terrapins lost to the Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA super regional.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Despite the injury, Lowe was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the third round of the draft. He recovered from the injury and made his professional debut in 2016 with the Bowling Green Hot Rods and spent the whole season there, batting.248 with five home runs and 42 RBIs in 107 games.
Lowe started 2017 with the Charlotte Stone Crabs and was promoted to the Montgomery Biscuits during the season. With Charlotte he hit.311/.403/.524 with nine home runs and 46 RBIs in 90 games and was named the MVP of the Florida State League. With the Montgomery Biscuits, he slashed.253/.270/.389 in 23 games. After the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League and was selected to play in the Fall Stars Game. Lowe began the 2018 season with the Biscuits and also played for the Durham Bulls of the Class AAA International League. Lowe was named to the 2018 MLB Pipeline second team of the year after hitting.297/.391/.558 with 22 home runs in 380 at bats.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays promoted Lowe to the major leagues on August 4, 2018. After a slow start, Lowe recorded his first big league hit on August 15 and hit his first big league home run on August 28. Lowe ended the season slashing.233/.324/.450 with six home runs and 25 runs batted in over 148 plate appearances.
On March 20, 2019, Lowe signed a six-year contract extension, with two options, with the Rays for a reported $24 million guaranteed. On April 12, 2019 Lowe went 2-for-5 against the Toronto Blue Jays recording his first multi homer game of his career. On July 3, 2019, Lowe was named as a reserve for the 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, although a shin injury he sustained in a game against the Baltimore Orioles meant he did not see playing time. On August 21, Lowe suffered a left quad strain while rehabbing with Durham, but he returned to the majors on September 22.
Lowe finished the 2019 season hitting.270/.336/.514 with 17 home runs and 51 RBIs in 82 games. He finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

Personal life

Lowe is married to former Maryland college softball player Madison Martin. The two met in college when they were both student athletes at the University of Maryland.