The Tampa Bay Rays put second baseman Brandon Lowe on the injured list this week with "lower back inflammation."
It turns out that the injury is worse than originally feared, as Lowe has a herniated disc in his bask and will be shut down from all baseball activity for a few weeks.
The following comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:
Lowe will be shut down from baseball activities for 2-to-3 weeks due to a herniated disc in his back, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
ANALYSIS
The hope is that the injury will heal following the shutdown period, although there are no guarantees. He will need a build-up period after abandoning activities until late June, so there would seem to be a good chance Lowe is out until around the All-Star break. Lowe also missed much of last season with back problems.
That's certainly a disappointing prognosis for a player that brings a lot to the Rays, when healthy.
Lowe often sits against left-handed pitchers but he's a powerful asset in the lineup that will be missed against righties. He's hitting just .199 this year but does have nine homers, 29 RBIs and three stolen bases. He hit 39 home runs back in the 2021 season, the last season he was fully healthy.
The team called up Vidal Brujan in his place.
Unfortunately, the injuries in general are starting to mount for the first-place Rays. They've already lost starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs for the season, and pitcher Drew Rasmussen for most of the season. They've also recently placed left-hander Josh Fleming on the IL.
Tampa Bay is a league-best 45-19 and is 6.5 games up on the Baltimore Orioles.
They'll take on the Minnesota Twins on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. ET.
More must-reads: