9-21-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
The losses are getting heavy. The silence from the front office is getting louder making fans want to SHOUT! – but there are still games remaining to be played with a different sort of Lowder on the bump tonight – 2023 first rounder Rhett Lowder, to be precise.
Selected six picks after the Pirates nabbed Paul Skenes, Lowder surged through the Reds farm system as he posted a 3.64 ERA through 108.2 innings across three levels of minor league ball, striking out 113 while walking just 24.
The 32nd-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline earned a call up last month, starting 4 games and posting a sparkling 1.74 ERA over 20.2 innings while striking out the same amount of batters as hits allowed (17) – though, he has walked 9 in that time.
Lowder has fairly even distribution of his pitches, mixing a low-90s 4-seam, a mid-80s slider, low-90s sinker and a high-80s changeup.
Small sample size but his changeup – which he mostly throws down-and-away when facing LHH – has been his most effective offering with opponents getting just one hit versus 5 strikeouts against the off-speed pitch.
On the other hand, his fastball up in the zone has the highest batting average against (.333) while also posting a .492 woBA, and his slider dropping low has an average exit velocity of 95MPH and both extra base hits allowed (both doubles) coming against the offering.
Lowder was able to deceive hitters in the lower levels but he’s not going to get away with as much in the big leagues, especially given his low velocity stuff and middle-of-the-road spin rates.
He’s going to work out of the zone a lot, trying to get hitters to get over aggressive and chase his stuff – especially high fastballs which have resulted in 6 of his 9 walks allowed.
Pirates hitters will need to be patient and look for high sinkers and hanging sliders over the plate. Let him make his rookie mistakes, take walks and clobber meatballs.
Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 