'This is a crazy game': Lowe ready to join Rays after initial doubt

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Durham Bulls had just landed in Nashville on Monday night when Josh Lowe received a call from Rays infielder Taylor Walls.

“Hey, did you see what happened?” Walls asked. “[Austin] Meadows got traded.”

“Yeah,” Lowe responded, “but I’m not looking into anything.”

Not long after that, as the Triple-A squad was waiting for its bus to the team hotel, Lowe saw manager Brady Williams turn around to face him, laughing and smiling. He had good news for Lowe, the Rays’ No. 2 prospect: “Hey, you’re going to the big leagues.” Just like that, Lowe -- who had been optioned to Triple-A last week thinking there was no space for him on Tampa Bay's Opening Day roster -- had a spot.

He called his parents, his agent, his brother (Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe) and his girlfriend, everyone he could think of. He spent the night in Nashville, woke up Tuesday morning and caught a flight to Tampa. On Wednesday morning, he reported for work inside the Rays’ clubhouse then played six innings in right field during Tampa Bay’s 9-2 exhibition loss to the Phillies at Tropicana Field.

“This is a crazy game we play, a crazy industry. Anything can happen with the snap of a finger, so just always be ready to go,” Lowe said. “I'm excited to be here, and I'm ready to go. … For them to have the confidence in me to be here Opening Day after trading Meadows, that means a lot to me, gives me that extra confidence and faith to go out there and play.”

President of baseball operations Erik Neander and manager Kevin Cash were honest with the 24-year-old Lowe at the start of Spring Training: There was a scenario where he’d be squeezed out of a spot again, like he was throughout most of last season. But there was also a scenario where he’d make the Opening Day roster, depending on how things played out.

At first, it looked like the former scenario was playing out. The Rays didn’t find a deal involving Meadows until late Monday night, days after they’d already had a tough conversation to send Lowe down. Lowe was disappointed, naturally, but he took the news in stride. Then, of course, the better scenario came to be.

“I'm glad that we said that. He can't call me a liar, which I kidded around with him about,” Cash said Wednesday, laughing. “It just happened later, and it came down to the wire. But I don't think Josh minded about flying to Nashville, going to Durham.”

Nor will Lowe’s parents mind the short trip to Tropicana Field on Friday afternoon. But they did have to cancel some plans to be in Toronto, where the Rangers will play the Blue Jays on Opening Day.

“Sorry, Nathaniel,” Lowe said, smiling, “but they're coming to see me. … I'm excited, and I can't wait.”

Rays pitching staff embracing PitchCom
MLB informed clubs on Tuesday that they will be permitted (but not required) to use PitchCom, a wearable device that transmits signals from the catcher to the pitcher and selected fielders, this season. The Rays plan to use the system to begin the year.

“The guys like PitchCom,” Cash said, “and if it speeds up the game, I'm 100 percent for it.”

Tampa Bay was the first Major League team to use the PitchCom system in a game during Spring Training, and it was a hit from the start. Pitchers were pleased with how functional it was, how it improved their pace on the mound and how it eased some concerns about sign-stealing. Catcher Mike Zunino raved about it, saying after the first trial run in a game, “It’s something that’s really going to get the game moving.”

“I think it's definitely going to be a little bit more relaxing on the mound knowing that, if there's a runner on second base, they won't be stealing the signs,” right-hander Luis Patiño, who gave up four runs on three hits against the Phillies on Wednesday, said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “I think it's going to be a good tool for pitchers whenever there are runners on base.”

The only concern, relatively speaking, is it might push some pitchers to work too quickly. Without having to look in for signs in one of his early Spring Training starts, right-hander Drew Rasmussen said, he found “like three hitters in, I was out of breath. I was just moving too fast.” But he found a more consistent pace in his last start against the Pirates and supported the use of PitchCom.

“It's a pretty good experience,” Rasmussen said. “I enjoyed it, so I think I'll use it moving forward.”

Up next
After holding a workout at Tropicana Field on Thursday morning, it will finally be Opening Day for the Rays. Tampa Bay will host Baltimore at 3:10 p.m. ET on Friday, when left-hander Shane McClanahan will make his first Opening Day start against left-hander John Means and the Orioles.