Rhett Lowder navigated 30.2 IP of big league ball expertly at the tail end of the 2024 regular season, his first as a professional after the Cincinnati Reds used the #7 overall pick to select him out of Wake Forest in the 2023 MLB Draft. He pitched through just about every level of the minors prior to joining the Reds for the season’s final month, though sadly you needed a telescope to see him pitch anywhere since.
First an arm injury (and later a tweaked oblique) kept Lowder sidelined for almost
all of the 2025 season, and he never was able to pitch his way back into form at all well enough to get back to big league action. He’s healthy now, though, and for those reasons he’s part of the Reds contingent in Arizona Fall League play plying his trade for the Peoria Javelinas.
Peoria is 2-1 in the early going, the likes of Cam Collier and Alfredo Duno off to solid starts offensively in the elite showcase down in the desert. On Friday afternoon, Lowder will join them in the box score as he makes his AFL debut against the Salt River Rafters at Peoria Stadium (in Peoria, Arizona).
First pitch is set for 4:30 PM ET, and each of Duno (catcher), Collier (1B), and Leo Balcazar (3B) are in the starting lineup for the day, too.
I believe you’ll be able to view this game via MLB.com’s AFL site, so tune in to see one of Cincinnati’s prized arms show that he’s back to 100% (and ready to vie for a spot in their starting rotation as early as spring camp in nearby Goodyear).
