Is Brandon Lowe the worst playoff performer in MLB history?

First off, Brandon Lowe is terrific and is among the best players in Tampa Bay Rays history.

At the conclusion of the 2023 regular season, Lowe ranks 7th all-time in franchise history in fWAR, 6th in homeruns, and 4th in wRC+. There is no question as to whether he is one of the best all around offensive players that has ever donned a uniform for the Rays.

However.

When it comes to the postseason, Brandon Lowe just fails to show up. And unfortunately this year, due to injury, literally.

Over the course of the 119 years that MLB has played a postseason, the numbers of players that have fared worse than Brandon Lowe, can frankly be counted on one hand.

The Tampa Bay Rays have made the postseason in each year since Brandon Lowe made his first Opening Day roster in 2019 and since then, Lowe has played in 29 playoff games. But, unfortunately for Lowe and the Rays, Lowe just hasn’t made the most of the ample opportunity and instead has continuously struggled. That’s not to say that he hasn’t had his moments.

During the historic pandemic marred World Series in 2020, Brandon Lowe belted two homeruns in a Game 2 victory and then during one of the greatest World Series games of all-time, Brandon Lowe got to serve as one of the many heroes of the day when he launched a three run homerun to erase the Dodgers two run lead and put the Rays ahead.

But, even including those stellar performances from Brandon Lowe, he still ranks as THE WORST offensive performer in MLB playoff history over the last 100 years.

Looking back at players career numbers in the postseason, using a minimum of 100 plate appearances as a filter, Brandon Lowe ranks worst among the 385 hitters that have garnered the requisite number of trips to the plate in several significant offensive categories:

PLAYERS RANKED BY POSTSEASON AVG (min. 100 PA)

1. .115 - Brandon Lowe
2. .127 - Yasmani Grandal
3. .148 - Jason Heyward
4. .152 - Mark McLemore
5. .153 - Alex Avila

PLAYERS RANKED BY POSTSEASON OBP (min. 100 PA)

1. .167 - Brandon Lowe
2. .179 - Everett Scott
3. .207 - Jason Heyward
4. .210 - Bill Buckner
5. .215 - Gary Sanchez

PLAYERS RANKED BY POSTSEASON OPS (min. 100 PA)

1. .357 - Everett Scott
2. .403 - Dave Bancroft
3. .423 - Brandon Lowe
4. 443 - Bill Gleason
5. .444 - Jason Heyward

PLAYERS RANKED BY POSTSEASON wRC+ (min. 100 PA)

1. -1 - Everett Scott
2. 14 - Dave Bancroft
3. 16 - Jason Heyward
3. 16 - Brandon Lowe
5. 19 - Mark McLemore

It’s also worth noting that the the players who are frequently ranked worse on this list than Brandon Lowe (i.e. Everett Scott and Dave Bancroft) played during the notorious deadball era in which offensive capabilities were devastatingly held in check. Both players appeared in their last postseason games during the 1923 Fall Classic, thus creating the arguement that Brandon Lowe is the worst postseason performer in all of baseball for the last 100 years.