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In a recent conversation with Bill Ladson of MLB.com, right-hander Rhett Lowder, the second-best prospect in the Reds organization according to MLB Pipeline, answered a wide range of topics from his battle with Paul Skenes in college to his first professional season in baseball.

MLB.com: This is your first season in professional baseball. Tell me what the season has been like? It must have been a whirlwind.

Lowder: Oh yeah. It has been crazy. So I got drafted last year, but this is my first full year of pro ball. So I started in High-A and I jumped to a bunch of different levels, but I met a lot of new guys. I came in with no expectations. I was just trying to enjoy it.

MLB.com: Why didn’t you play pro ball after you were drafted out of college in 2023?

Lowder: I had a lot of innings in college, like 120 innings. [The Reds] were not looking for too much of an increase … and they felt I was in a pretty good spot to endure a full season this year from where I left off last year.

MLB.com: What is the biggest thing you learned in professional baseball?

Lowder: Probably the importance of a good routine. The schedule is vigorous. It’s every day. We are coming on 10 straight [games] without an off-day. It is pretty demanding on the body. So you really have to think about recovery, and sleep and everything. It’s very important.

MLB.com: What do you do differently now that you didn’t do in college?

Lowder: For the most part, I try to do a lot of the same things. I mean, there are a couple of recovering modalities that we have access to in the training room that we didn’t have in college. Really, this is your job and you are doing it all day. In college, you have classes and are cramped for time. It would have been tougher to get everything done.

MLB.com: You were drafted last year. Is it hard to believe you are in the big leagues? Tell me what you are feeling about your experiences.

Lowder: It’s awesome. It’s a dream come true. But at the same time, I have to prepare each and every week for a game. I’m not trying to get comfortable or anything. I keep my head down and keep working. We have a lot of games left [this month]. At the same time, I’m enjoying every step of the way.

MLB.com: You have had two great outings to start your Major League career. Tell me the feeling before each start. You seem comfortable, but were you nervous at all?

Lowder: Definitely nervous. With my first start, I didn’t know what to expect at all. But at the same time, once I started warming up for the game, I felt prepared. Just normal nerves. Nothing crazy. I was trying to get as comfortable as I could. Every inning, I think, I’m getting more and more comfortable.

MLB.com: I know it’s only two games, but what are you looking to improve on?

Lowder: I want to get more comfortable. I want to be able to challenge these better hitters a little bit more, just be more confident with my stuff. I know it plays at this level. I want to attack all the time.

MLB.com: People forget that you faced Skenes in the semifinals in the College World Series in 2023. You pitched seven shutout innings for Wake Forest and Skenes threw eight shutout innings for LSU. What was it was like to battle Skenes?

Lowder: That was a lot of fun. In the moment, we were one game away from getting into the final series. Really, everyone was just trying to win that game. That was all on my mind. Looking back on it, it was super cool. Great matchup. Paul is a great guy. It’s super cool to look back on it. It was a classic.

MLB.com: Next year you will face Skenes in the big leagues. Everyone will make a big deal about it because of the matchup between you two in college.

Lowder: I try not to get too caught up in what everyone is saying about [that matchup]. At the same time, we are in the same division. I’m sure we will see each other a lot.

MLB.com: Who do you credit for your success in baseball?

Lowder: I don't know if I could name every single one, but I give a lot of credit to my people at Wake Forest for my time there. I went there … from high school. I didn’t know much and I learned pretty much there. All of my coaches from Wake Forest that run the pitching lab and everything. I loved it.

MLB.com: You set pitching records at Wake Forest. How proud are you of what you accomplished at the school?

Lowder: The individual records are cool. I think what I’m mostly proud of is, I came in with 17 guys in my recruiting class. We weren’t very good. I think we won 20 games my first year. Through the whole entire way, that class stuck together. Each year, we got better and we ended up with an historic season my junior year with those guys. That’s what I’m most definitely proud of.

MLB.com: What was your biggest moment and what was your biggest downer in professional baseball this year?

Lowder: My biggest moment would be getting called up to the big leagues. That’s pretty cool. The biggest down was, there was a stretch in Double-A where I was trying to figure some stuff out. I think that was the biggest thing that helped me. You could say that was one of the better things for me. I was going through a couple of bad starts and having to figure it out.

MLB.com: How did you figure it out?

Lowder: There were a couple of different things. I think I was throwing strikes. The stuff was good. I just needed to dive in a little bit deeper into my game planning, be more prepared going into my starts.