And based on his batted ball profile, I think 30+ HR is a very real possibility. Maybe this isn't going out on too much of a limb, but I see Lowe finishing 2020 as a top-5 2B in fantasy, and being a very high end fantasy player for many years to come. Skip to navigation ... 2020 AL East Standings. He has a very good swing, the talent is there. "Just a bruise" you say but how do you know what it entailed unless you were his doctor. Though he needed 21 pitches to navigate a messy fourth inning in which the Jays loaded the bases, he had some quick efficient innings, throwing seven pitches in the second and nine in the fifth.“When he’s on and he’s got a feel for the cutter, he gets really nasty,” Cash said. I own him in multiple dynasties but I have serious doubts what happens if he gets hit by a pitch.

1B, 3B, and DH will see a rotation all season likely, but can't see much of a rotation in the middle infield. Gaining 5.7116 Hits per 100 in a vaccum (.057 BA raise)

Lots of reasons to have doubts about Lowe, but injuries isn't one of them.

“He made us all look smart today by just the quality of his at-bats,” Cash said.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying Lowe is the next Trout or anything, and the cut-offs I used were somewhat arbitrary. Lowe is a MUCH better hitter against righties. For each category I made the cut-off 150 batted ball events minimum (which seems to translate to about half a season of games), and looked at roughly the top 50-60 ranked players. And based on his batted ball profile, I think 30+ HR is a very real possibility. If he was that soft he'd have been sitting out all the time. Unfortunately I hate seeing that because it’s terrible for player development for a young player, but it’s how Tampa rolls and they have aspirations for a deep playoff run next year. All rights reserved. Other players hit the ball very hard, but at a sub-optimal LA, which actually results in a less effective player than the high-LA/low-EV type (examples like Vlad Jr and Jorge Alfaro). Next: Brandon Lowe Rated AL's 3rd Best 2B for 2020 The remaining positional rankings are scheduled to be released by MLB.com as follows: Feb. 1: Shortstops & Starting pitchers He struck out six.Lowe went 3-for-5 with an RBI single and two doubles in an extra-inning win over the Blue Jays on Sunday.Thomas Hatch retires Brandon Lowe on a changeup to record the first strikeout of his MLB careerThomas Hatch retires Brandon Lowe on a changeup to record the first strikeout of his MLB careerLowe went 2-for-4 with a two-run triple and a run, which came as the result of a balk, in a win over the Blue Jays on Saturday.Rockies' Bard gets 1st big league win in more than 7 seasonsLowe's eighth-inning triple propels Rays over Blue Jays 4-1 Brandon Lowe’s two-run triple snapped an eighth-inning tie and lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays Guy literally missed half a season with a BRUISE. One of them was Mike Trout, which is not in the least bit shocking. If I'm buying a later round player and hoping to strike gold, I'd much rather put my chips behind a player that hits the ball hard and in the air, versus someone with a very average batted ball profile but less swing and miss.

Next: Brandon Lowe Rated AL's 3rd Best 2B for 2020 The remaining positional rankings are scheduled to be released by MLB.com as follows: Feb. 1: Shortstops & Starting pitchers Yes. I think most teams know that he’s gonna go to that quite a bit, and that just shows how effective it is.”The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the sixth when Ji-Man Choi, batting in the leadoff spot, doubled in pinch-runner Mike Brosseau. “He’s probably going to have to make some adjustments now this go-round this season and be able to handle some off-speed pitches in the zone. … And it’s not really a surprise pitch. 2 DAYS AGO • MLB.COM. In a weekly league with shallow benches I’ll probably find other options. Most interesting though was there were only 2 players in all of MLB who found themselves on this list as leaders in every one of the categories above. I'm guessing he had lots of different bruises in the past 3-4 years, and this seems to be the only one he missed significant time with.

I’d be shocked if Lowe isn’t platooned. Losing 10.318 Hits per 100 in a vaccum. What I found interesting, is there was not a lot of overlap between categories. Taking the top 60 in each category, I combined the five categories together to see which names appeared most often, and any other trends I could see. All of the batted ball data from 2019 would indicate that Lowe is a very good hitter, who both hits the ball very hard, and in the air. There are bruises and there are bruises. Do not doubt his quality on contact will be impressive. Did Lowe play enough OF to qualify in Yahoo?

Steamer has Lowe projected at a .248 / .321 / .477 line with 23 HR in 576 PA. Many thanks to him. “He might not create the most swing and miss, but you look at some of the hitters and the weak contact that he creates, I mean, some of those cutters from the side, I understand why hitters come out of the batter’s box saying it looks like 100 mph. .46 Net BA loss vs .298= .252 BA. Obviously there was something different this time. Here is Brandon Lowe's:

I'm buying / holding everywhere - I could very well end up being wrong about him, but when almost all of the data points in one direction, you have to follow it IMHO. Lowe is netting 10.9 Outcomes (per 100) with a .822 BA vs .298 BA. It seems more probable to me that Lowe is able to become more disciplined with 2019 under his belt, and lower his K% some, versus continuing on with a 35% K-rate and seeing regression. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. 2020 Topps Gold #574 Brandon Lowe FS /2020. I have a strong suspicion this will result in even more platooning in Tampa (and across all of baseball). We decorate for the party with his statistics.