Cincinnati Reds No. 2 Prospect Rhett Lowder Will Make His MLB Debut Friday

Mark Sheldon, Reds beat reporter for MLB.com, stated on August 28 that the Cincinnati Reds promoted top starting pitching prospect Rhett Lowder ahead of his Major League Baseball debut on Friday, August 30, with their doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers at home.

The Reds will be calling up Rhett Lowder to pitch in Game 2 of Friday’s doubleheader vs MIL.

Lowder is the club’s No. 2 prospect and No. 35 overall, according to MLB Pipeline.

— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) August 28, 2024

The Reds promoted the MLBpipeline.com No. 35 ranked right-handed pitching prospect Rhett Lowder to Triple-A Louisville from Double-A Chattanooga on August 20.

Lowder is ranked No. 2 on MLBpipeline.com in the Cincinnati organization.

Lowder made his first start in Triple-A on Thursday, August 22, at home against the Atlanta Braves affiliate, Gwinnett Stripers, and threw six innings, allowing three hits, no earned runs, one hit batter, and striking out seven.

Lowder, 22, was born in Albemarle, N.C., and was drafted seventh overall in the 2023 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Lowder was assigned to the Complex Level on August 10, 2023, for the remainder of the regular season and did not play in a minor league game before 2024.

He was invited for a non-roster spot in spring training on January 11, 2024.

Lowder started the 2024 regular season in High-A Dayton and posted a 2-0 record in five starts with a 2.49 ERA, throwing 25.1 innings, allowing 18 hits, seven earned runs, two home runs, six walks, 29 strikeouts, and a 0.947 WHIP before being promoted to Double-A Chattanooga on May 8.

With Double-A Chattanooga, Lowder went 4-4 with a 4.31 ERA in 16 starts and threw one complete game. He threw 77.1 innings, allowing 80 hits, 37 earned runs, seven home runs, 18 walks, 77 strikeouts, and a 1.267 WHIP.

In his last six games in Chattanooga, Lowder threw 34.1 innings, posting a 1.06 ERA, walking seven batters, 29 strikeouts, and a 0.79 WHIP.

According to his 2024 scouting report on Baseball Savant, Lowder’s fastball can tap out at around 97 mph, sitting easily in the 92-95 mph range, and it has more sink than ride, getting a lot of weak ground-ball contact. He brings one of the best changeups in the college game to the Reds, a mid-80s offering with a huge fade that he’ll throw to hitters on both sides of the plate. His low-80s slider has more depth than sweep, and it flashes plus.

During his junior year at Wake Forest University in 2023, Lowder went 15-0 with a 1.87 ERA, throwing 120.1 innings and allowing 90 hits, nine home runs, 24 walks, and striking out 143 batters in 19 starts, posting a 0.947 WHIP.

Lowder was fourth in the country in ERA and strikeouts, had the most wins in NCAA Division I during the 2023 season, and helped the Demon Deacons reach the College World Series for the first time since the program’s only national title in 1955.

The Wake Forest program led the country in WHIP at 1.05, strikeouts per nine innings at 12.1, strikeout-to-walk ratio at 4.26, and ERA at 2.83, with the help of pitching coach Thomas Muscara.

Lowder pitched in the elimination game against the eventual 2023 National Champion Louisiana State University Tigers on June 22 in Omaha, going head-to-head with No. 1 pick Paul Skenes and throwing a dominant seven innings, allowing three hits, no earned runs, walking two batters, and six strikeouts with 88 pitches. Wake Forest lost 2-0 when LSU third baseman Tommy White hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

In his three seasons at Wake Forest, Lowder went 30-5, posting a 3.29 ERA and throwing 287.1 innings in 47 starts, allowing 260 hits, 32 home runs, 72 walks, and striking out 326 with a 1.155 WHIP.

Lowder will be in the Cincinnati starting pitching rotation with Nick Martinez, Carson Spiers, and Julian Aguilar.

The (63-69) Reds have three starting pitchers on their 15-day injured list, Nick Lodolo, Hunter Greene, and Andrew Abbott, alongside two starting pitchers on the 60-day injured list with Brandon Williamson and Graham Ashcraft in the final month of the 2024 regular season.

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Photo Credit: Rhett Lowder #81 of the Cincinnati Reds throws a pitch during the fourth inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium on March 14, 2024 in Surprise, Arizona.