Reds' Rhett Lowder proves you don't need 100 mph to dominate originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Rhett Lowder was one of the most dominant pitchers in all of college baseball in 2023. He led Wake Forest to the Men's College World Series with his NCAA Division I-leading 15-0 record and a 1.87 ERA.
That summer, he would see his name be called by the Cincinnati Reds as the seventh overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.
It would not take Lowder to rise through the minors either, making his MLB debut in August during the 2024 season. However, he would miss some time the following season while battling a forearm strain and then an oblique strain.
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At the start of the season, the Reds took a hit with news that pitcher Hunter Greene would miss the start of the season. He underwent surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow.
So, pitchers like Rhett Lowder needed to step up, and that's just what he did. Through six starts, Lowder holds a 3-1 record with a 3.18 ERA and 25 strikeouts on 34 innings of work.
With this start, he has emerged as the No 7 rookie, according to Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly.
"Lowder has come back with a vengeance in 2026. His 6.6 K/9 doesn't stand out, but Lowder still has a 3.18 ERA and 2.92 FIP to show for his six starts this season. His 93 mph fastball is pretty modest by today's velocity standards, but he also mixes in a sinker, slider and changeup, and frankly, it's hard to argue with the results he's gotten to this point."
Lowder isn't your traditional max-velocity guy. He gets outs by mixing his pitches well and having good control of all of those pitches.
He's been excellent thus far, and this Reds' rotation could be a real killer once Greene returns.
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