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

Nathaniel Lowe is a pretty self-aware guy.

When he’s in a slump, he doesn’t hesitate to let it be known. When he felt like his defense didn’t match the championship-level expectations of the organization, he acknowledged it and dedicated the offseason to improving.

So when asked about his younger brother Josh Lowe, an outfielder with the Rays, Nathaniel, 27, had a lot of praise for the 25-year-old while also acknowledging that he had to learn to let him grow on his own these last few years.

“He's a great athlete, and he's gonna come into his own, how he's supposed to come into it,” Nathaniel Lowe said. “I don't want to try and tweak something that maybe will set him back. I think I feel like I crossed boundaries when we played together, just because I wanted the best for him. It feels like I might have … I wouldn't say take it away from him, but I might have squeezed a little bit when he was just a 19-year-old kid in the Midwest League. There are times when we butted heads, but that’s being brothers.”

The two are very close, and Nathaniel is more than happy to be able to help if needed, and Josh was hesitant to say he felt like he needed space from his older brother. He acknowledged that Nathaniel never actually gave him any bad advice, but Josh did say that some things coming from your older brother just aren’t always going to come across perfectly.

“I don't know if I have an answer [about any bad advice],” Josh said. “But maybe just on a day where I'm not feeling it, he says something to me and I don't want to hear it from your older brother. But he gives me a lot of good advice, so there's not much bad advice at all…. I think he knows when to speak and when not to.”

Despite different paths to the big leagues, and the brotherly squabbles they’ve endured, the Lowe brothers often relish the reality of their Major League lifestyle.

This weekend in St. Petersburg was the first time the two brothers shared a big league field. They did so with more than 100 family and friends in attendance -- including parents David and Wendy -- at Tropicana Field cheering on the two best teams in the American League.

The two even exchanged the lineup cards before Saturday’s game, before the Rangers evened the series.

“It's pretty cool,” Josh said of playing in the Majors alongside his brother. “Not many people are able to say they have a sibling that plays the same professional sport as you. But he did a good job of backing off and not saying stuff. But at the same time, there was always a helping hand if I needed it. But it's not always like he had to say things. I could just watch his success and take different parts of his game and kind of watch that and put it into my own game. So, it's been pretty good.”

Oddly enough, the Lowe brothers could have shared a big league field much earlier, as members of the same team.

The two brothers were teammates in Tampa Bay’s system after being selected in the 2016 MLB Draft. Josh was taken 13th overall and Nathaniel was selected in the 13th round. They were teammates for Class A Bowling Green in 2017 and the Rays’ former High-A Charlotte affiliate in ‘18.

The only time they’ve played against each other was at the Alternate Site with the Rays in 2020.

“I’m sure he’s told the media over there that I made a diving play and he wasn’t happy and all this other stuff,” Nathaniel recalled jokingly.

But after a few stints in the big leagues with Tampa Bay, Nathaniel was shipped to Texas ahead of the ‘21 season and enjoyed a breakout year for the Rangers in 2022 -- slashing .302/.358/.492. -- and was later awarded the AL Silver Slugger Award at first base.

Josh appears to be on the cusp of a Major League breakout of his own. He debuted for the Rays in 2021 and struggled throughout ‘22, but he seems to have found his footing this season. Through 53 games, Lowe is slashing .295/.340/.546 and is one of just five players in the Majors with 10+ stolen bases and 10+ home runs this season.

“I have high expectations for him and seeing him perform the way he's performing is not a surprise to me,” Nathaniel said. “When he plays well, I'm happy for him. And if he doesn't, then that's how it goes. Being a big brother to him is a treat, so seeing him have the success that he has, it makes me feel really good.”

Rays beat writer Adam Berry contributed to the reporting for this story.