Tampa Bay Rays: Brandon Lowe coming out of slump just in time

Tampa Bay Rays infielder Brandon Lowe has been in an absolutely brutal slump this postseason. Finally, in the World Series, he’s starting to come out of it.

Brandon Lowe was, without a doubt, the best hitter on the Tampa Bay Rays during the regular season. The .916 OPS he posted was over .100 more than any other starter for the team this year. He had a .269/.362/.554 slash line and led the team with 14 home runs. He also led the team in bWAR with a 2.1, beating out the next best, Kevin Kiermaier, by half a win. His 17.5% barrel rate was in the upper echelon of all Major League Baseball.

Unfortunately, none of that success carried over into the 2020 postseason.

Lowe has been an offensive black hole for the majority of October. Manager Kevin Cash has tried everything to get him going. Using him as a pinch hitter, leading him off, moving him down in the lineup. Nothing worked. Entering Game Two of the World Series, Lowe was slashing .133/.198/.227 for an OPS of only .424. That’s a far cry from his regular season production at exactly the time where the Rays needed him the most.

Despite the essential absence of Lowe however, the Rays made it to the World Series. And in Game Two, Lowe finally started to show signs of life.

He opened up the scoring in the first inning with an opposite field shot for his first hit of the World Series.

Then in the fifth inning, Lowe went deep again to give the Rays a 5-0 lead.

And Tampa Bay Rays fans are praying that this outburst marks the return of the best hitter on their team. They survived the first three rounds of the playoffs with almost zero production from Brandon Lowe. If he’s finally snapping back into form, they may be able to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a real run for their money.