Brandon Lowe was already looking like a great pickup for the Pirates three weeks into the 2026 season, and the start got louder with every swing. He went deep twice on Opening Day, then kept piling up damage until he had seven home runs, second in the league behind Jordan Walker by April 16.
For Pittsburgh, that kind of power is exactly why Lowe was brought in to play second base. The Pirates projected he could hit 20 to 30 home runs over a full season and give them about 2 WAR, which would be a useful return from a player acquired in a three-team deal with the Rays and Astros that sent Mike Burrows to Houston.
That early surge matters because Lowe has never been a simple player to buy or sell. He owns a 27.1% career strikeout rate and struck out 26.9% of the time in 2025, while his walk rate has dropped for two straight years and he posted a.314 OBP from 2022 through 2025. The Rays traded him largely because of his $11.5 million salary, and the profile came with caveats: the strikeouts, the defense at second and only so-so on-base numbers.
Even so, the Pirates did not need perfection when they landed him. They needed power in the middle of the order, and Lowe has delivered it faster than expected. That has paired neatly with a roster that also includes Paul Skenes, who is widely viewed as the best pitcher in the National League, and Ko, the shortstop prospect the club appears to have in the making. Jake Mangum, another piece of the deal, has also been better than expected as a rookie, while Mason Montgomery has been used as a high-leverage reliever despite a 42.5% strikeout rate and a 5.40 ERA.
The real question now is not whether Lowe can hit for power. It is how long the Pirates can live with the rest of the package around it. If the home runs keep coming, the trade will look smarter by the week; if they do not, the same flaws that sent him out of Tampa Bay will be waiting in Pittsburgh too.