Healthy (and newlywed) Lowe eyes bounceback in 2025

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- If you see Josh Lowe practicing in the infield this spring, no, he’s not changing positions. He wasn’t struck by some sudden desire to become a third baseman, like he was when the Rays drafted him nine years ago.

Coming off a season that was delayed and derailed by injuries, Lowe just wants to feel athletic -- and he wants to maintain that feeling all year.

“My body’s able to move the way I want it to move now,” Lowe said. “And I just feel the freedom I’ve had in years past.”

That should bode well for Lowe and the Rays, who are counting on their 27-year-old right fielder to bounce back in a big way and build on what he did during a stellar 2023 season. For all the bounce-back and breakthrough candidates in Tampa Bay’s lineup, Lowe stands out as one of the most important.

“Josh needs to go out and have a good camp -- not for me, but for himself, to feel good about himself,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He knows the type of player that he is and, when he's right, how he can impact this team.”

Put simply, Lowe wasn’t right last year, and he couldn’t make the impact he wanted. He went from posting 3.7 bWAR two years ago to 0.7 WAR last year, a drop-off caused mostly by injuries.

Last offseason, Lowe was bothered by a left hip issue that flared up after Spring Training games began. He was shut down during camp due to left hip inflammation, sustained a right oblique strain when he was nearly back from that injury, then had his season debut pushed back again to May 6 due to right hamstring tightness. Less than a month later, he was back on the injured list with a recurrence of his oblique injury.

Lowe still managed to play 106 games and steal 25 bases, but his performance wasn’t the same. His slash line dropped from .292/.335/.500 to .241/.302/.391. He went from 20 homers to 10, from 33 doubles to 19 and from 83 RBIs to 34.

A year ago, Lowe entered Spring Training saying he was determined to be even better than he was in 2023. His sense of motivation hasn’t changed.

“First and foremost, the goal in the offseason was to get healthy so stuff like that didn't happen,” he said. “Did a pretty good job doing that, but I'm as motivated as ever to get back on the field and help the team win -- and being healthy is a big part of that going forward.”

Looking back at the end of last year, Lowe realized he’d changed the way he played due to his various injuries. It wasn’t that he was playing hurt, but it was difficult to rediscover his swing when he was physically compromised.

“Nobody knows your body like you do. So as soon as the year was over, it was a matter of kind of working on things that I need to do to get healthy and to stay strong all year long,” he said. “I felt like I was swinging a different way, protecting my oblique or whatnot.

“But [now], I feel great, and I feel like I can move freely and move how my body is supposed to move.”

In addition to his usual offseason training, Lowe said he visited a few other rehab-type facilities to strengthen his core, lower back and hips. He reported to Charlotte Sports Park for Spring Training saying he felt great, aside from a recent bout with food poisoning. In Lowe's early batting practice and cage work, hitting coach Chad Mottola said Lowe “looks like two years ago.”

Or, as Cash put it: “Seeing him walk around with a smile on his face is a good sign.”

“He just looks like the talented, athletic player that he is. I know he’s motivated to come in here and have a healthy camp,” Cash added. “I don’t want to see him put too much pressure [on himself by thinking] that he’s got to come out and get four hits in two at-bats. We want him to find a way to be healthy throughout and trust that his ability and athleticism will help us this season a lot.”

Of course, getting healthy wasn’t the highlight of Lowe’s offseason. It was getting married. He and his wife, Anna, celebrated with 218 guests -- including at least 20 current and former Rays teammates -- in January, about two months after his brother, Nathaniel, got married.

“It was a great offseason,” Lowe said.

In more ways than one.