TORONTO — When Josh Lowe steps up to the plate, the batting average he sees on the scoreboard doesn’t match what he feels.
“I don’t think I’m far away,” Lowe said. “Put it this way: Mentally every time I go to the box, I feel like I expect myself to get a hit.”
The results, however, have reflected the struggle. Lowe was hitting .144 with a .471 OPS heading into Saturday’s game. He snapped an 0-for-24 with a bunt single in his first at-bat on Saturday.
When the Angels picked him up in a three-way trade last winter, they had hoped to see the player who had an .835 OPS in 2023. During the two injury-plagued seasons since, Lowe had a .670 OPS.
Considering that he’s now not even performing that well, the obvious question is whether he’s still playing through anything. He missed time in spring training with an oblique injury.
Lowe said he’s fine now. It’s just a matter of his timing being a little off.
“I feel like I’m seeing the ball well,” Lowe said. “My swing just might be a tick off, which might lead to some of those foul balls on some of those pitches over the heart of the plate. I think it just boils down to me getting good pitches to hit and continuing to swing at good pitches.”
Manager Kurt Suzuki has continued to show confidence in Lowe, starting him regularly at the bottom of the order against almost all right-handed pitchers.
“He’s pressing, for sure,” Suzuki said. “He’s kind of in-between a lot of pitches. It doesn’t make it any easier when you’re facing Dylan Cease. He’s obviously searching for something that feels good to him. But all it takes is one – one swing, one at-bat – to make something click. We feel like he’s close. His (batting practice) has been tremendous.”
Suzuki’s faith in him is a small piece of what’s kept Lowe in a good frame of mind. Mostly, though, it’s the reality of what Lowe has been through over the past six months. His mother lost her years-long battle with cancer during spring training.
“When you look at the big picture of life, especially this weekend, Mother’s Day, it’s heavy on me,” Lowe said. “That’s kind of my reason why, and why I do it. My family loves me. They support me every single day. They’re the reason why I keep doing it. I have an awesome wife. I have an awesome family. Those are the people that help keep me level-leaded and realize that it’s a blessing what I do, but it’s just a game and it’s not my entire life.”
RETURN OF YATES
Right-hander Kirby Yates threw two sliders in his 24-pitch scoreless inning Friday night, his first outing after starting the season on the injured list. Yates had had a slider throughout his career, but he hasn’t throw it with any regularity since developing the splitter that turned his career around in 2017.
Now, that might change.
“It’s just another wrinkle to kind of reset everything,” Yates said. “I’m going to throw it and see what happens. I think the more I can put in their heads, the better. I don’t think I can just sit back and blow people away with 98 anymore.”
Yates was throwing 92 mph in spring training, but since suffering a knee injury that cost him some leg strength he’s been closer to 90 mph. While the splitter is his out pitch, Yates acknowledges that he needs a certain level of velocity on his fastball to make it work.
“Even if the split is really good, if the fastball sucks, I don’t think the split works as good,” Yates said. “I think with having a really good fastball, the splitter, even if it’s not as good as it typically is, is still going to play because they respect the fastball. If they don’t have to respect the fastball, then I think it becomes pretty easy to hit.”
NOTES
Catcher Logan O’Hoppe caught Walbert Ureña’s bullpen session Saturday, another key test in his rehab from a broken bone in his left hand. The last test for O’Hoppe will be hitting game-speed velocity, either from a pitcher or the machine. Once he does that, the Angels are likely to have him play at least one minor-league game. …
The Angels are scheduled to face three left-handed starters in the last four games of the trip, which is one of the reasons Suzuki wanted to get both Lowe and Yoán Moncada in the lineup Saturday. Neither are expected to start any games against lefties. Vaughn Grissom got the start at second against a righty Saturday, but Grissom and Peraza are likely to start all the games against the lefties. …
Right-hander Ryan Johnson gave up three runs in five innings, with five strikeouts and no walks, at Triple-A on Friday night. Johnson, who was out with an illness and then a hamstring issue, began the season in the Angels’ rotation. His spot is still open. “He felt great and the numbers were good and all that stuff was great,” Suzuki said. “We’ll talk about what his next steps are.”
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP José Soriano, 5-2, 1.74) at Blue Jays (LHP Eric Lauer, 1-4, 6.03), 10:37 a.m. PT Sunday, ABTV, 830 AM