Lowe Struggles With Oblique ‘Discomfort', Out For Several Days

Veteran outfielder Josh Lowe experienced what the Los Angeles Angels described as “left oblique discomfort” that will keep him out for several days, but Lowe says he still expects to be ready for Opening Day.

Lowe experienced the injury during Wednesday’s spring-training game against the San Diego Padres when he chased down a ball in the gap, according to an account written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.

“I just made a play in the gap and threw the ball in and just felt a little tug on my left side,” Lowe said. “Baseball plays happen. Not too high [level of concern]. It’s Feb. 28, there's no point in playing superhero right now. Everything that's been portrayed to me is [that] I’ll be ready to go for the start of the season.”

What makes this potentially more than just another “baseball play” is Lowe’s injury history with this particular body part, which first plagued him back in 2024 when he was playing for the Tampa Bay Rays. Lowe was out for 42 days with a right oblique strain during a stretch that extended from March to early May. He aggravated the injury in late May, according to Bollinger, and missed 11 more games. 

Last year featured more of the same. Once again, Lowe experienced right oblique discomfort in late March and missed 47 days before getting back on the field in mid-May.

Now it’s his left oblique that’s giving Lowe trouble, but he says his previous oblique issues were more severe. 

“The other time I got hurt, I couldn't even run to first,” Lowe said. “I'm still doing stuff today. I was running straight forward, just not doing [full workouts] with the team. Just being precautionary. Obviously, I've done my oblique in the past, other one, but if we have to take a couple extra days to make sure it’s OK, that’s what I’m going to do.”

This sounds a little like whistling in the dark, but Lowe gets the benefit of the doubt for now. His slash line with the Rays last year was .220/.283/.366 with 11 homers, 21 doubles, 18 stolen bases and 40 RBIs in 108 games, and the Angels acquired him in a three-team offseason trade this winter that sent receiver Brock Burke to the Cincinnati Reds, with the Rays getting infielder Gavin Lux from the Reds.  

Lowe believes his oblique issues were part of his low numbers last season, and you’d have to go back to 2023 to find a better version of the corner outfielder, when Lowe posted a slash line of .292/.335/.500 to go with 20 homers and 32 stolen bases in 135 games. 

The outfielder continued with the “whistling in the dark” theme in a subsequent quote, which comes off as a cross between clueless and wishful thinking.

“I don't necessarily think I need to reprove anything because I've done it,” Lowe said. “That's who I envision myself as a player. But the good thing about that is I don't have to go out and just try super hard to do that because I’ve already done that. It's just a matter of going out and being myself and doing what it takes every day to go and win a game. And those numbers will show up at the end of the season.” 

Nonetheless, this is a situation that bears watching. The trade for Lowe didn’t seem to make a lot of sense at the time—Burke was a serviceable reliever in Anaheim, and the trade makes even less sense with DH Mike Trout returning to the outfield as the Angels continue to sort out their various positional uncertainties.