TAMPA -- The Rays saw their outfield depth depleted over the first month of the season, but a key contributor is getting closer to returning.
Right fielder Josh Lowe took early batting practice before the Rays’ 3-1 loss to the Royals on Tuesday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the first time he’s hit off a pitching machine on the field as he works his way back from the Grade 2 right oblique strain that he sustained on Opening Day.
“It's good to see the ball go over the fence,” Lowe said, smiling, “and more importantly, just swing the bat and feel good.”
Lowe is set to face pitchers in live batting practice on Friday, manager Kevin Cash said, before potentially starting a rehab assignment as the designated hitter in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League on Saturday.
Lowe has been hitting recently, working off a high-velocity machine throwing foam balls in the batting cage as well as standard batting practice. His path forward will be determined by how he feels after hitting on the field, but if all goes well, that could put him on track to return to Tampa Bay’s lineup by the middle of May.
“I feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be, honestly,” Lowe said Tuesday afternoon. “I think the timeline was six weeks. … But to be where I'm at right now, taking it one day at a time, I feel great, and I think I'm progressing right along.”
Considering his frustrating, injury-derailed season a year ago, and how healthy he felt and how good he looked all spring, being sidelined on Opening Day was especially frustrating for the 27-year-old. He admitted the biggest challenge has been processing how and why it happened after spending the offseason hard at work to make sure he’d never experience another season like last year.
Lowe said he doesn’t necessarily anticipate changing his routine as a result of his latest injury, but the athletic outfielder wondered if it might now be a matter of working “smarter, not harder” with his training. In short, he said, he’ll do whatever it takes to stay on the field the rest of the year.
“Is it just kind of the nature of how it goes, how my body is? Maybe, but I can confidently say that I've worked hard to get back in a position where I feel good now,” Lowe said. “I think doing baseball activity and kind of forgetting about just doing stuff like to test it gets me over that mental hurdle.”
While the Rays have been getting good news about Lowe, center fielder Jonny DeLuca sustained a minor setback in his recovery from a right shoulder strain. Cash said DeLuca experienced a “mild return of some soreness” after he resumed throwing and swinging. The Rays will take three to five days to determine his next step.
Rookie outfielder Jake Mangum (left groin strain) is making progress but could miss another three weeks, while outfielder/infielder Richie Palacios (right knee sprain) has resumed jogging on a treadmill but not hitting or throwing.
Fortunately for the Rays, their production in the outfield has not dipped despite all these injuries. If anything, it’s been better than expected, just from unexpected contributors.
“I know everybody's thankful for all of them, and that's kind of why we've built the farm system the way that we do,” Lowe said. “I've talked about that a lot, harped on how good our farm system is, and now to kind of see that coming to fruition is really cool.”
Despite a hitless series opener against the Royals, Kameron Misner is batting .311/.361/.554 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 25 games. Left fielder Christopher Morel is carrying a 40% strikeout rate, but he’s also produced a .244/.319/.427 slash line with three homers and 11 RBIs.
Mangum was a contact-hitting, base-stealing revelation before his injury. And now, rookie speedster Chandler Simpson is contributing in a big way at the plate and in center field, although his career-opening hitting streak ended Tuesday night. And recent acquisition Travis Jankowski picked up two hits in his first start for Tampa Bay on Sunday in San Diego.
“Anything I can do to help this team win for as long as I’m here,” Jankowski said. “Baseball has a weird way of working things out. Obviously the outfield is injury-plagued right now, so not sure what’s going to happen when that plague is over. But while I’m here, I plan on leaving everything I have out on the field and doing everything I can to help this team win.”