Rays Slugger Slams Way up Franchise’s All-Time Home Run Rankings
The offense has been up-and-down for the Tampa Bay Rays to start the season, but this slugger made a move up the franchise leaderboard recently.
Brandon Lowe, the Rays’ everyday second baseman, has produced for the franchise in the early going, batting better than .300 and giving the top of the lineup a real boost.
He’s also one of the long-time members of the current roster. He made his debut with the Rays in 2018, and he’s been with the franchise ever since.
With longevity and performance comes the opportunity to climb the franchise’s leaderboard in several key areas. While on the road this weekend to take on the Texas Rangers, he did just that.
In Saturday’s game, Lowe hit his third home run of the season, taking Rangers starter Jacob deGrom long to help the Rays erase a 4-0 lead in a game they eventually lost, 6-4.
It was a big deal in the context of Lowe’s career.
129 homers later and B. Lowe breaks another milestone 👏 pic.twitter.com/YMHbekYpj8
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 5, 2025
With the home run, he had 129 home runs, breaking a tie with Aubrey Huff and moving him into third by himself in all-time home runs with the Rays.
The only two players ahead of him now are Evan Longoria, who tops the list with 261 home runs, and Carlos Pena, who had 163 home runs.
In good company pic.twitter.com/2n9KTWk4S6
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 5, 2025
Not only did he move up the all-time list, but he is now fifth among active second basemen in home runs. With his opening day start at second base, he passed Ben Zobrist for the most opening day starts at that position in franchise history.
Entering Sunday’s finale with the Rangers, Lowe had a slugging percentage of .484. For players with a minimum of 2,000 career plate appearances, his was fourth best for second basemen since 1901, behind Rogers Hornsby (.577), Jeff Kent (.500) and Robinson Cano (.488).
Lowe is coming off a 2024 in which he slashed .244/.311/.473 with 21 home runs and 58 RBI. He had 21 home runs for the second straight season and hit a career-high 38 home runs in 2021.
He is one of three second basemen to have back-to-back 20-home run season in the past two campaigns joining Ketel Marte and Marcus Semien. His three career seasons of 20 or more home runs is tied for most by a Rays middle infielder with Zobrist.
Tampa Bay returns home after Sunday’s action for a 13-game homestand that starts on Tuesday at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa with the Los Angeles Angels.
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Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers MLB and College Sports for On SI. He also covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com.