Brandon Lowe says Pirates are in position to make a ‘deep push’

PITTSBURGH – A small-market team in a division littered with big-market clubs. A pitching staff brimming with potential. A manager with a modest playing resume but an innate sense of atmosphere within a clubhouse.

Yeah, Brandon Lowe has been here before.

The two-time All-Star second baseman was a fixture on Tampa Bay clubs that consistently punched above their weight in the AL East. He doesn’t see why the same thing couldn’t happen in Pittsburgh, which acquired Lowe, outfielder Jake Mangum and left-handed pitcher Mason Montgomery last week as part of a three-team trade that sent Pirates starting pitcher Mike Burrows to Houston and two prospects to Tampa Bay.

While there’s a chance Montgomery and Mangum could contribute in 2026, the centerpiece of the Pirates’ unusually aggressive move is left-hander Lowe, who hit 31 home runs last season and now finds himself playing half his games at PNC Park, where the nearest edge of the 21-foot-tall Roberto Clemente Wall sits just 320 feet from home plate with the banks of the Allegheny River about another 100 feet away. far.

“The ballpark dimensions play into where my lines of power lie,” Lowe said. “Seeing a ball flying in the river seems very, very exciting.”

So is the idea that the Pirates are ready to compete for the first time in a decade.

“I feel like there’s a real opportunity there to push deep and play some playoff baseball in Pittsburgh,” Lowe said. “The pitching staff is legit. The hitters have some extremely talented guys playing the field, and I’m excited to come help in any way I can.”

Lowe spent eight years with the Rays, who made the playoffs every year from 2019 to 2023, including an appearance in the 2020 World Series. Tampa Bay has won 96 games or more three times during that span, despite playing in the same division as the much wealthier New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

While Lowe admits there is something to be said for financial resource advantage, in his experience it is far from the only determining factor in success.

“Payroll isn’t everything,” Lowe said. “The big names get paid and obviously you know what you’re getting [with] some of these guys, but these big names start somewhere. »

Like, say, Tampa Bay, which found a way to stay competitive despite Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, among others, heading elsewhere when they became too expensive.

Now it’s Lowe’s turn to make that transition. He has one year remaining on his current contract and is set to make $11.5 million in 2026. When the Pirates acquired players during general manager Ben Cherington’s tenure, a large portion of them still have controllable years left.

That’s not the case for Lowe, but the Pirates showed unusual urgency in taking a small gamble that Lowe could help elevate an offense that ranked near the bottom of the major leaderboards in almost every significant statistical category last season. That lack of production was the main reason Pittsburgh finished 71-91 despite a pitching staff anchored by Cy Young winner Paul Skenes.

The window of opportunity to capitalize with Skenes still playing for a modest salary is already closing. Next season will be the seventh since Cherington was hired, and patience – at least externally – is starting to wear thin.

Cherington said this weekend “there’s a lot more for us to do” in terms of roster additions before the club reports to spring training in mid-February. Maybe, but Lowe’s arrival gives Pittsburgh something it’s lacked for most of the last decade: a proven veteran bat who can get the ball over the fence with regularity.

The Pirates have only had one player hit more than 30 homers in a season since 2014, and Josh Bell’s 39 home runs in 2019 came during a tumultuous year in which the club collapsed in the second half, leading to drastic changes in management.

The group that took over – led by Cherington – now finds itself thrust into the “prove it” phase of its tenure. The rotation anchored by Skenes and Mitch Keller could be excellent. After relying heavily on young, inexperienced players or 30-something hitters in an attempt to put something together, Lowe’s arrival signals a change in mentality.

Although he will begin the season as an everyday second baseman, the Pirates may have to get creative to ensure manager Don Kelly writes the names of the top nine hitters on the lineup card. That means Lowe could find time in the outfield or at designated hitter. He’s okay with either one if it comes to that.

“One thing I was taught in Tampa is if you can play anywhere, it keeps you in the lineup,” he said. “It was the most important thing [and] I want to be in the lineup for as many games as possible. »