Josh Lowe's return delayed again by right hamstring tightness

CHICAGO -- Josh Lowe won’t be back in the Rays’ lineup this weekend, after all.

Lowe joined the Rays at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday afternoon after completing a six-game Minor League rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham. He was poised to make his season debut on Saturday night against the White Sox, but instead he will travel back to the Tampa Bay area to undergo an MRI on Monday due to tightness in his right hamstring.

Lowe said he felt like he was experiencing cramps in his right hamstring when he woke up Friday morning, and that tightness persisted through his flight to Chicago and as he settled in at the ballpark. There wasn’t a specific play or movement that led to the injury, and Lowe said he initially thought it was just typical soreness.

He underwent treatment on Friday then tested his hamstring at the ballpark on Saturday, at which point the Rays decided they weren’t comfortable reinstating him from the injured list.

“I'm hopeful that the MRI comes back clean, and it's just a couple days of rest and treatment and go from there,” Lowe said Saturday afternoon before the Rays' 8-7, 10-inning loss. “I didn't want to do something to further put myself out for longer than I need to be. I know that sucks for this team right now, and they were expecting me to be back. But this is going to be the best-case scenario.”

Lowe has now dealt with three injuries since the start of Spring Training. He was shut down for six days on Feb. 29 due to left hip inflammation, and he sustained a Grade 1 right oblique strain just as he was about to return from that injury. Now, with the oblique issue behind him, he’s going to miss at least a few more days.

“I need to be at 100% coming back for this team right now,” Lowe said. “I can't come back and afford to hurt myself [in] Game 1, and then miss six weeks. I know the importance of what I mean to this lineup and this team, and I can't afford to come back and blow something out and miss more time than I already have. … So that's what I have to realize. As much as I want to get back out there and play and help this team, I have to be smart.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash said he was also hopeful Lowe’s latest injury will be a short-term issue, but it will further set back the outfielder’s season debut regardless.

“We were excited to get him back up here, but he was honest with us,” Cash said. “When you add that to [the fact that] he's still coming back from another injury and rehab at-bats and all that … we're just going to have to figure it out. It's probably going to take a couple days for us to really have a good handle on it.”

The Rays were especially eager to get Lowe back given the way their lineup has struggled this month. They are still missing three key left-handed hitters -- Lowe, Brandon Lowe and Jonathan Aranda -- as well as right-handed-hitting outfielder Jonny DeLuca. Yandy Díaz did not start Saturday’s game after taking a 99.3 mph fastball off his left pinkie finger on Friday night, but he was available if needed.