Lowe return imbues more balance to Rays' lineup

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. PETERSBURG -- After Brandon Lowe went down with an early season injury to his right oblique, the Rays had about a month where it was notable if they managed to get more than one left-handed hitter in their lineup.

As their best available lefty bat, Richie Palacios hit third against a lot of right-handed starters. Catcher Ben Rortvedt and rookie Austin Shenton were the only other left-handed options for a lineup that quickly became remarkably right-handed.

Then Josh Lowe came back from his Spring Training right oblique injury on May 6. And Jonathan Aranda came back from a fractured right ring finger last week. Finally, Brandon Lowe returned before Monday’s series-opening 5-0 loss to the Red Sox at Tropicana Field.

The game didn’t go Tampa Bay’s way, and the lineup didn’t deliver the results the Rays hoped for, but it was a welcome change for manager Kevin Cash to fill out a batting order with five left-handed hitters against Boston right-hander Tanner Houck: Josh Lowe, Brandon Lowe, Aranda, Palacios and Rortvedt.

“It feels like we've just been offensively balanced for many, many seasons now, and the only reason we weren't this year at the beginning was because of injuries. Kind of a unique circumstance when all the lefties go down, but they did,” Cash said Monday afternoon. “Felt like we did what we could to kind of weather the storm a little bit, but it is nice to have them back in there. Now, let's see if we can get them all timed up and really firing.”

For years, a huge part of the Rays’ success has been their depth and their knack for maximizing their players’ strengths with optimal matchups. For much of the season’s first month, that ability was limited by injuries. Jose Siri had to play every inning of the Rays’ first 20 games in center field, but getting Jonny DeLuca back from the injured list has lightened his load. DeLuca has also helped lengthen the lineup, which is less reliant on stars like Yandy Díaz and Randy Arozarena, both of whom struggled through the first month.

“I think it just balanced out the lineup a little bit more, right?” starter Zack Littell said. “Not that those dudes aren’t lineup-changers in and of themselves, but to just have those quality at-bats throughout the lineup changes the dynamic and takes some pressure off the top half.”

Featuring a more balanced lineup is just one way the Rays are starting to look more like themselves, even as they continue to hover around .500 (25-24). But their depth has helped elsewhere, too.

Taj Bradley added a true power arm to the rotation when he debuted on May 10, and Ryan Pepiot’s expected return on Wednesday will take at least some of the sting out of losing Opening Day starter Zach Eflin for the next two weeks or so. It will get even more interesting when Eflin is healthy and ready to come back, especially with starter Jeffrey Springs starting a rehab assignment on Monday and Shane Baz continuing to build up his workload on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham.

Finally, the bullpen depth the Rays expected has started to shine through. In 17 games since May 3, Tampa Bay’s bullpen has posted a 1.59 ERA; that stretch has come after the relief corps logged an MLB-worst 5.55 ERA through the first 32 games.

High-leverage reliever Jason Adam has done his part, of course, and Pete Fairbanks has looked great since coming off the IL. But others like Garrett Cleavinger, Kevin Kelly, Erasmo Ramírez and the just-optioned Manuel Rodríguez have stepped up, too.

“Injuries suck, and when they happen and you've got to kind of roll with it, it's always the worst. The IL is the worst place to be. It's nice to get back,” Brandon Lowe said. “The team's playing really well and starting to play much more like how we expected ourselves to play. Hopefully I can just be another boost in the arm and help us keep playing well.”