Josh Lowe blasts tenth homer in win on Tuesday

Lowe was responsible for the only run of the game for the Angels on a solo shot off Sonny Gray. The 28-year-old has now homered seven times, but the former Tampa Bay outfielder has not been effective in his (relatively) new surroundings as seen in a slash of .217/.255/.382. Because of the lack of options — even with Mike Trout coming back soon — Lowe should still see a decent amount of playing time against right-handed pitching, so he will get a chance to see those poor numbers improve. It’s probably not a great idea to bet on it.

Lowe’s blast to right was the only extra-base hit either team collected today. He’s started four straight games since being recalled when Jose Siri went on the paternity list on Thursday, including both since Siri returned on Saturday. He’ll probably keep playing versus righties until Mike Trout returns, at which time the Angels can decide whether it’ll be worth playing him in a corner.

Before missing two games, Siri started seven games in a row in center with Mike Trout down. Now, though, he has Josh Lowe to contend with, which figures to mean less playing time against righties. Lowe, who was called up when Siri went on the paternity list, is making a third straight start tonight, and Siri will be available off the bench.

With Jose Siri going on the paternity list, the Angels will turn back to Lowe, who was hitting .299/.397/.617 in 26 games at Triple-A with nine home runs and six steals. He still had a 26 percent strikeout rate and 13.3 percent swinging strike rate, but he was making more contact in the zone and more contact overall by being more aggressive. Lowe will have some contact issues and is unlikely to ever re-produce the season he had in 2023, but he also has intriguing raw tools and warrants regular playing time on an Angels team that is going nowhere.

While surprising, Lowe has badly struggled at the plate throughout the season — slashing a woeful .184/.226/.320 — so having time to retool his swing and find himself again isn’t the worst idea. Wade Meckler was promoted from Triple-A Salt Lake in a corresponding move on Friday.

That’s the good news. The bad is that he committed two errors in left field, and he couldn’t put a bunt down before striking out as the leadoff man in the bottom of the 10th. Lowe is hitting .333 over his past 10 games, so that’s a little something. He has five homers on the year but just a .182/.225/.322 line overall.

Lowe had a couple of hard-hit flyballs today, but as per usual this season, he got a little too far under both to hit them out. Lowe’s 24-degree launch angle this season is one of the highest marks in the league and far higher than his career average of 13 degrees. Maybe he’ll figure it out, but he’s been a big liability thus far.

Lowe is batting just .167, but he does have three homers and nine RBI through 62 plate appearances. His chances of pulling off a big rebound don’t seem great, given his poor exit velocity and strikeout numbers to date, but he might get to 20 homers and 20 steals without being much help elsewhere.

Schanuel will take a breather with southpaw Ryan Weathers on the bump for the Angels. It’ll be Vaughn Grissom handling the colder corner and hitting fifth in Schanuel’s absence. Josh Lowe also gets the evening off with Bryce Teodosio getting the nod in left and hitting ninth.

This is the first time that the Angels have faced a left-handed starter this season, and both Nolan Schanuel and Josh Lowe are on the bench. That will be something to monitor as the season goes on. Jeimer Candelario will start at first base and bat seventh, while Bryce Teodosio will play left field and bat ninth.