It’s time for fantasy baseball draft prep in 2025! Everyone loves hunting for value, and there is so much to evaluate and consider this time of the year. Spring Training games are just about to kick off, and there are still plenty of buy-low opportunities.

 

 

 

Like past years, 2025 fantasy baseball outfield rankings are always important to pay close attention to due to the position having the most 5-tool-type players at its disposal. Let’s dive into Josh Lowe of the Rays, an outfielder who can provide scoring in multiple categories at a very generous cost.

Josh Lowe Stats (2024)

  • .241 AVG, .302 OBP, .391 SLG, .693 OPS, 0.7 WAR
    • 353 AB, 19 2B, 10 HR, 34 RBI, 37 R, 32 BB, 123 SO, 25 SB

Josh Lowe’s stats saw him have a brutal 2024 campaign, but he may have never had a chance from the start. Lowe didn’t see the Major League field until last May after battling multiple injuries. Lowe dealt with an oblique strain last spring but also had hamstring problems which sidelined him for an extended period of time.

In fact, Lowe had four separate injury-list stints last season. It was surely a campaign to forget. Lowe tallied just 387 plate appearances last season while hitting only 10 home runs, and his strikeout rate jumped back up to north of 30% – a 7% increase from the previous season.

The good news is that Lowe was still serviceable in most formats because he stole 25 bags, just seven shy from his 2023-24 total in 114 fewer plate appearances. Lowe has yet to play more than 135 games in his young career.

 

 

 

Josh Lowe Fantasy 2025

Also among the good news, there is plenty of room for optimism. First, Lowe is allegedly healthy, and that is huge. Plenty of players who get a late start to the year never really get on track. Lowe is just 27 years old, and I’d hate to label him as injury-prone prematurely.

Despite a high strikeout rate, Lowe also set a career-high 8.3% walk rate at the MLB level, so he was finding other ways to occasionally get on base. He also set career bests in exit velocity and hard-hit rate, which are two very appealing advanced metrics to predict outcomes.

Another plot twist was caused by Mother Nature, as Tampa Bay will now be playing its home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is cookie cutter to Yankee Stadium. Tropicana Field owned the second-worst park factor rating for hitters last season (according to Baseball Savant) while Yankee Stadium ranked 13th overall – and 3rd for home runs. 

The new short porch in right field at GMS Field could be very friendly for Josh Lowe in fantasy. Many are projecting Lowe to hit cleanup for Tampa Bay this season, which would be awesome for his 2025 fantasy production. 

On-base machine Yandy Diaz is at the top of the order, and it’s probable that up-and-coming phenom Junior Caminero will be hitting just ahead of Lowe, which could mean plenty of chances to knock runners in. Lowe would generally be a platoon candidate, but there aren’t any trustworthy right-handed bats on the Rays’ bench when a southpaw starter is on the bump. 

Jose Caballero is a utility man whose services will often be needed elsewhere, and Eloy Jimenez is a ticking time bomb to hit the shelf. In a perfect, healthy world, the lack of platoon options should solidify 500+ plate appearances for Lowe this season.

 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball Projections 2025: Josh Lowe

Most mainstream industry projections have Lowe hitting between 15-19 home runs, stealing no fewer than 24 bases, and scoring almost 70 runs. I think the runs and stolen base projections might be a bit conservative if Lowe is fully healthy for the Rays.

Our Fantasy Baseball Projections have a unique projection for Josh Lowe’s fantasy numbers, penciling him in for 14 home runs, 102 runs, 91 RBIs, and just 14 stolen bases. Although those numbers are a bit of a 180-turn from the rest of the industry, Lowe would certainly pay dividends in different ways. That’s because Josh Lowe’s fantasy cost is super cheap right now. According to Fantasy Pros, he’s the consensus No. 197 overall pick.

There is some extremely negative recency bias attached to Lowe’s name, and I’m buying now before he starts ripping the cover off the ball in the spring. He’s a fantastic fantasy baseball late-round target and bounce-back candidate.