{"id":126632,"date":"2026-07-23T18:28:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=126632"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:28:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:28:40","slug":"gray-lowe-pirates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/23\/gray-lowe-pirates\/","title":{"rendered":"Murf Gray Could Make Losing Brandon Lowe In Free Agency Okay For The Pirates"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Brandon Lowe<\/a> this past offseason, most knew it may only be for one year. Lowe is a free agent at the end of this season. The Pirates aren\u2019t known for spending much in free agency, so there is a real possibility that Lowe departs after this season. However, the emergence of multiple players, most importantly infielder Murf Gray<\/a>, may lessen the blow of losing Lowe this offseason.<\/p>\n

Murf Gray Could Make Losing Brandon Lowe in Free Agency Okay for the Pirates<\/h2>\n

\"Murf<\/p>\n

Murf Gray Is Becoming One of the Best Third Base Prospects in the Sport<\/h3>\n

The Pirates selected Gray with their competitive balance round B pick in 2025. Gray has done nothing but hit since entering pro ball. In his first 386 plate appearances, the third baseman has a .321\/.408\/.606 triple-slash, with a .443 wOBA, and 154 wRC+. He already has 25 home runs this season, and his isolated slugging percentage is approaching .300 at .285. Gray is walking at a healthy 11.1% rate with a strikeout percentage of just 18.9%.<\/p>\n

Gray\u2019s outstanding season has already led to a significant rise in prospect status. MLB Pipeline recently placed him among their top 100 prospects<\/a>. Baseball America<\/a> ranked Gray as the Pirates\u2019 27th-best prospect at the start of 2026. He has since jumped 20 spots, and now ranks as their 7th-best Pirates prospect, and will likely continue to climb.<\/p>\n

Gray has already reached Double-A Altoona. It has only been five games, but he has made a fantastic first impression. He already has two home runs and has drawn six walks in his first 23 plate appearances. Gray has struck out just twice so far at Double-A. At 22 and already at Double-A, he\u2019s on track to make his MLB debut sometime next season, possibly even early in the year.<\/p>\n

Gray Isn\u2019t The Pirates\u2019 Only Young Infielder That Is Having A Promising Season<\/h3>\n

If he reaches MLB early in 2027<\/a>, the Pirates are going to have multiple interesting infielders. Aside from Konnor Griffin<\/a>, Jacob Gonzalez<\/a> looks like he could be a key long-term player in the Pirates\u2019 infield after they acquired him from the Chicago White Sox<\/a>. He has five hits, including two home runs, and only one strikeout over his first seven games with the Pirates. It\u2019s a small sample size, but he was a former first-round pick in 2023 and can play all four infield positions. Gonzalez also crushed Triple-A pitching this year with ease. Nick Gonzales<\/a> is also having a fine season, with a .786 OPS and 118 wRC+. He is starting to hit for more power, and owns a .151 isolated slugging percentage since the start of June. His defense at third base is a weak point in his game, but if Lowe is out of the picture, he can share second base with Jacob.<\/p>\n

Brandon Lowe: An Outsider Looking In<\/h3>\n

That leaves Brandon Lowe as sort of an outsider in this situation. Lowe has no doubt had a good season. He has 21 home runs, a 110 wRC+, and his second base defense has been an extremely nice surprise for the Pirates. Over the previous three seasons going into 2026, Lowe had -20 defensive runs saved and -10 outs above average. This year, he has +10 DRS and +9 OAA at the keystone position. He is currently one of just three players with at least 20 homers and a defensive WAR of +1.0 or greater (Lowe sits at +1.2).<\/p>\n

However, the Pirates aren\u2019t going to be the only team interested in Lowe during the offseason. The Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, and LA Dodgers are in the bottom half of the league in second base fWAR. Unless they make a move at the deadline for an infielder who can handle second base beyond 2026, they\u2019ll likely look into Lowe, at the very least.<\/p>\n

There Will Still Be Frustration, Nonetheless<\/h3>\n

Failing to sign Lowe is going to suck however you spin it. He has been an excellent pick-up for the Pirates this year. The Pirates\u2019 usual lack of aggressiveness and unwillingness to spend to keep quality players only further grows frustration among fans. However, it will hurt a little less with the emergence of Murf Gray, Nick Gonzales, and Jacob Gonzalez if the Pirates ultimately let Lowe walk.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Brandon Lowe this past offseason, most knew it may only be for one year. Lowe is a free agent at the end of this season. The Pirates aren\u2019t known for spending much in free agency, so there is a real possibility that Lowe departs after this season. However, the emergence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5765,"featured_media":126669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,26],"tags":[2447,29691],"class_list":["post-126632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-pirates","tag-brandon-lowe","tag-murf-gray"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5765"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126632"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126670,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126632\/revisions\/126670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}