2018 was an awesome year to be a Rays fan. We had just gone through 4 years of frustration, but before our very eyes the start of a half decade of baseball dominance was about to begin. We had rookies like Willy Adames, Jake Bauers, hell even Justin Williams coming up for a game was exciting. Ji-Man did that hype as hell rev up celebration after hitting the walk off against Cleveland and FanGraphs posted an article called ‘The Arrival of the Tampa Bay Rays’ the next day. We had the insane Archer trade, I remember watching Glasnow’s first start with us when he had a shaved head and was in awe watching him throw 99 as a starter. Meadows had that 4 home run game in the minors and you could feel the smugness from our fan base in r/baseball. But along with all of this, we also had the rookie debut of Brandon Lowe.
Of all the rookies you just got the feeling that Lowe’s bat was going to make the most immediate impact in the majors, and it surely did. He ascended through the minors quickly being underrated as a bat-first prospect and a limited defender (no surprises there) and immediately became a staple of the Rays. I was a huge fan right off the bat and am pretty sure i can claim that my rookie highlights video was his first highlight video on YouTube. After so many years of watching an offense powered by James Loney and half seasons of Steve Pearce and Wilson Ramos, it felt magical to have a cornerstone staple that you could rely on in the offense for years to come.
We’d then go on to have some great years where Lowe largely powered our offense. That 2019 wild card game against the Athletics was such a hype night, watching Yandy with a shit eating grin running around the bases after his second homer and Nick Anderson coming in and just shutting shit down. I remember the despair I felt around the 5th inning of the final ALDS game against the Yankees in 2020 and the intense reversal of emotion after meadows hit that home run to be followed up by the Brosseau one we all know and love against Aroldis pitching practice in the sub urb street Chapman. It was such an awesome stretch to view as a fan, and through it all Lowe was a silent constant and staple of the team. He embodied the spirit of the Rays. Not a big name by any means but pure production and incredibly underrated
I had quietly hoped that maybe Lowe would finally be a Ray who would stay on the team far too long until he retired and was of no baseball value, but if Longoria couldn’t stay then this isn’t surprising. But damn it has been a good ride with him. Three presidencies, a pandemic, and heartbreak with a generational prospect later it’s safe to say he had had one of the best careers in the history of the Rays. It’s wild to think that we’ve had 8 seasons of him, and even wilder to think it has been almost 8 years since he debuted. Brandon if you’re out there lurking this subreddit, thank you for your tenure and it has been a pleasure watching you on the team. We hope you have continued success on the Pirates and can cash out for a nice pay day the year after (and hey, maybe our new owner will be the one to pony up)