Rays’ Josh Lowe hopes to avoid injured list as he rests sore oblique
ST. PETERSBURG — Rays outfielder Josh Lowe is optimistic he can avoid another stint on the injured list after leaving Wednesday’s game against the Red Sox with a sore right side.
Lowe said he felt some “superficial” soreness after receiving a cortisone shot on Thursday. He was not in the lineup Friday as the Rays dropped their series opener to the Royals.
He said he will throw and swing a bat on Saturday to see how he feels.
“I do feel really good,” Lowe said. “Kind of want to wake up and see how I feel (Saturday). I woke up and still felt pretty good (Friday). Even (Thursday), after waking up I felt pretty good. So, we’ll kind of take it day by day.”
By choosing not to put Lowe on the IL, the Rays played a man short Friday, gambling that he will be able to play sooner than 10 days from now. They will need to make room on the 26-man roster at some point this weekend to activate reliever Chris Devenski.
“He won’t play (Friday); we’ll stay away from him,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said before the game. “We’ll see if buying another day gives us time and then probably have a decision to make. But encouraged that Josh’s feeling better. It’s really tough to know until we’re able to get a ball and a bat in his hand and test it out.”
Lowe missed the first 35 games of the season with a right oblique strain. Team doctors told him that any injury to the oblique can come with some residual soreness and tightness.
“Obliques are interesting,” Lowe said. “And if you’ve really waited the entire time to be healthy, you would probably miss an entire season. So, it varies. So it’s really just up to kind of how I feel and going forward with that.”
Lowe, who missed most of spring training with a hip issue, is hitting .240 with two home runs, three RBIs and a .736 OPS in 14 games this season.
Under pressure
Trying to find something to get Randy Arozarena’s bat going, Cash dropped the outfielder in the lineup to take some pressure off him. For the first time this season, the struggling slugger batted sixth.
“It’s not something I generally do, but kind of maybe taking a little bit of pressure off of him,” Cash said. “But, saying that, Randy is not a guy who typically has shown too much pressure, and when there is pressure situations he’s known for rising to the occasion a little bit. So, we’re in a little bit of a unique situation with him.
“But we want to continue to support him ... maybe get him off one less at-bat. (Isaac) Paredes is swinging the bat really, really well. So, we’ll give him that one extra at-bat.”
Arozarena went 0-for-4 with a strikeout on Friday. For the season, he is hitting .159 with eight home runs, and a career-worst .317 slugging percentage and .567 OPS. His power numbers are down across the board, while his strikeout (29.8%, 5.9 higher than 2023) and whiff (5.6%) percentages are up.
Friday marked the first time this season Arozarena batted sixth but the 16th time in his career.
Miscellany
Shawn Armstrong retired six batters with three strikeouts as the opener. He owns a 1.40 ERA in 13 career “starts.” … Paredes singled in the first inning and now has reached safely in 21 of his last 22 games since April 28. … Jonathan Aranda drove in the Rays’ only run, his first RBI since driving in a career-high six on Oct. 1, 2023. … Tyler Alexander became the first reliever in team history to allow eight runs on 11 hits.
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