The Tampa Bay Rays ruled second baseman Brandon Lowe out for the season on Saturday, and also announced that right-hander Shane Baz will undergo Tommy John surgery.
Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters that Lowe’s lower-back injury didn’t respond to treatments. The club is hoping Lowe can avoid surgery.
“Give him credit,” Cash said. “He went and got more injections than anybody would want, but he did. He just did not respond. Hopefully we can get him right. We’ll go into the offseason with a lot of different things that he’s probably going to have to do. But I think at this point rest is key.”
Lowe, 28, established career highs of 39 homers and 99 RBIs in 2021 but struggled this season. The 2019 All-Star batted a career-low .221 with eight homers and 25 RBIs in 65 games.
Baz, 23, threw a 15-pitch bullpen session Saturday before the Rays made the decision that he needed to have the surgery. He was hurt in July and was hoping to avoid undergoing the major procedure that will cause him to miss the entire 2023 season.
Baz went 1-2 with a 5.00 ERA in six starts this season.
Meanwhile, the Rays expect to have right-hander Tyler Glasnow available next week for his first big league outing in 15 months. The 29-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2021.
Glasnow was 5-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 14 starts last season prior to the injury.
