\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:” watched the Draft with his family at their home in North Carolina and was greeted with hugs and smiles when he was selected by Cincinnati.\n\n\”Once upon a time I got the call, I was super excited,” Lowder said. \”I think it will be a good fit and a nice young team. It will be good.\n\n• Get to know Draft prospect Rhett Lowder\n\nWhen Lowder graduated from North Stanly High School in North Carolina in 2020, he was not targeted by clubs for the Draft.\n\n”I was actually a super late commit to Wake — one of the last in my class. I was a little worried about just landing at a college,” said Lowder. \”I got a little buzz, not much really. And it was a shortened five-round Draft. I kind of knew I had no shot at that point.””,”type”:”text”},{” __typename” :”Video”,”contentDate”:”2023-07-10T02:19:19.418Z”,”preferredPlaybackScenarioURL({\”preferredPlaybacks\”:\”mp4AvcPlayback\”})”:” Lowder discusses being drafted with the 7th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft by the Reds”,”displayAsVideoGif”:false,”duration”:”00:01:55″,”slug”:”lowder-on-being-drafted-no-7″, “tags” :({“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-113″,”title”:”Cincinnati Reds”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:113″},” type”: “team”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-695076″,”title”:”Rhett Lowder”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:695076″ },” type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”interview”,”title”:”interview”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”: “TaxonomyTag” ,”slug”:”mlb-draft”,”title”:”MLB Draft”,”type”:”taxonomy”}),”thumbnail”:{“__typename”:”Thumbnail”,”templateUrl”: ” on being drafted no. 7″,”relativeSiteUrl”:”/video/lowder-on-being-drafted-no-7″},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”Lower, ranked now as the No. 6 prospect in the 2023 Draft by MLB Pipeline, is coming off a big season in which he had a 1.87 ERA with a 6.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio (143 K, 24 BB) in 120 1/3 innings .\n\nThe two-time ACC Pitcher of the Year, Lowder is considered one of the more polished arms in the class, his fastball velocity can reach 97 mph and he has a slider. But the pitch that stands out the most is his changeup, which is rated by many scouts as one of the best in college baseball.\n\nReds amateur scouting director Joe Katuska liked that Lowder was an advanced college pitcher with consistent pitching.\ n\n\”It’s a long track record, the stuff, the command and control and all of that line up to be a Major League starter,” Katuska said. “He should be able to move pretty quickly. Obviously, we have to recognize that he threw a lot of innings this year at Wake, and we have to protect his long-term potential and not do anything reckless out of the gates, but I would predict he would be a relatively fastball college pitcher.\”\n\nLowder’s secondary pitches became strengths because he was late in developing his fastball velocity in high school, which was in the 80-90 mph range. He further developed his arsenal at the Wake Forest Pitching Lab.\n\n\”I was always getting outs and finding ways to pitch. I had to find ways to win when I wasn’t throwing very hard,” Lowder said. “I came up with a way of learning to pitch, mix counts early. Once I added weight and speed, it was still there. I just did it backwards. Some guys add speed first and then learn. I feel like i did it the other way.””,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”Video”,”contentDate”:”2023-06-21T18:28:10.455Z”,”preferredPlaybackScenarioURL({\ ” preferredPlaybacks\”:\”mp4AvcPlayback\”})”:” ratings for Rhett Lowder”,”displayAsVideoGif”:true,”duration”:”00:00:10″,”slug”:”data-viz-2023- prospect -grades-695076″,”tags”:({“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”data-visualization”,”title”:”data visualization”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{” __typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-695076″,”title”:”Rhett Lowder”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:695076″},”type”:”player”} ,{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-draft”,”title”:”MLB Draft”,”type”:”taxonomy”}),”thumbnail”:{“__typename”:”Thumbnail “,”templateUrl”:” Lower 2023 Draft Grades”,”relativeSiteUrl”:”/video/data-viz-2023-prospect-grades-695076″},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”I a memorable last start, against eventual national champion LSU in the College World Series, Lowder went toe-to-toe with MLB Pipeline’s top pitching prospect and No. 1 overall pick, Paul Skenes, pitching seven scoreless innings while allowing just three hits .\n \nLSU won the game, 2-0, in 11 innings.\n\n\”Even before the game, I was kind of called in,” Lowder said. \”It didn’t disappoint. Skenes pitched really well and they came out on top.\”\n\nFloyd had a great spot to watch Lowder work from the LSU dugout.\n\n”He’s pretty good, I want to say. He’s dirty,” Floyd said. “He pushed it up our tail for about seven rounds and stuff, so we had no shot at him. I’m excited to play with him.”\n\nAlthough Lowder is considered a polished pitcher, he still looks forward to developing his game at the professional level.\n\n\”There are a lot of things I have been working on on and that I will continue to work on using the Reds’ development system,” Lowder said.”,”type”:”text”}),”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:null,” summary” :”CINCINNATI — One of the labels attached to Wake Forest starting right-handed pitcher Rhett Lowder ahead of the 2023 MLB Draft was that the 21-year-old was a \”late bloomer\”\n• Draft Tracker : Complete pick-by-pick- coverage\n\”I wasn’t good in high school,” Lowder said. \”I was just a little kid. I am”,”tagline({\”formatString\”:\”none\”})”:null,”tags”:({“__typename”:”InternalTag”,” slug”:”storytype-article”,” title”:”Article”,”type”:”article”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:” Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy “},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-draft”,”title”:”MLB Draft”,”type”:”taxonomy”}, {“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,” slug”:”mlb-top-prospects”,”title”:”MLB Top Prospects”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,” slug”:”teamid-113″,” title”:”Cincinnati Reds”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:113″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”ContributorTag “,”slug”:”mark-sheldon “,”title”:”Mark Sheldon”,”type”:”contributor”}),”type”:”story”,”thumbnail”:” Lower Draft for No. 7 by Reds in 2023 MLB Draft”}}, “Team:113”:{“__typename”:”Team”,”id”:113},”Person:695076″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id”: 695076}}} window.adobeAnalytics = { “reportingSuiteId”:”mlbglobal08,mlbcom08″,”linkInternalFilters”:”mlb”} window.globalState = {“tracking_title”:”Major League Baseball”,”lang”:”en”} window.appId = ” /*- ->*/
3:47 UTC
CINCINNATI — One of the labels attached to Wake Forest starting right-handed pitcher Rhett Lowder ahead of the 2023 MLB Draft was that the 21-year-old was a “late bloomer.”
“I wasn’t good in high school,” Lowder said. “I was just a little kid. I’m still a little little. I put on a little weight and got on the field a little later than some of my peers.”
This late bloomer was the seventh overall selection in the 2023 MLB Draft, taken by the Reds on Sunday. The bonus slot for that pick is $6,275,200. Cincinnati also selected right-hander Ty Floyd No. 38 out of LSU and shortstop Samuel Stafura No. 43 out of Walter Panas High School in Cortlandt Manor, NY
“It’s a testament to some hard work that was put in and the program we had at Wake and everything,” Lowder said. “It’s an honor to be selected here.”
Lowder watched the Draft with his family at their home in North Carolina and was greeted with hugs and smiles when he was selected by Cincinnati.
“When I got the call, I was super excited,” Lowder said. “I think it will be a good fit and a nice young team. It will be good.”
When Lowder graduated from North Stanly High School in North Carolina in 2020, he was not targeted by clubs for the Draft.
“I was a super late commit to Wake, actually — one of the last in my class. I was a little worried about just landing at a college,” Lowder said. “I got a little buzz, not much really. And it was a shortened five-round Draft. I kind of knew I had no shot at that point.”
Lowder, now ranked No. 6 in the 2023 Draft by MLB Pipeline, is coming off a big season in which he had a 1.87 ERA with a 6.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio (143 K, 24 BB) in 120 1 /3 rounds.
The two-time ACC Pitcher of the Year, Lowder is widely regarded as one of the more polished arms in the class, his fastball velocity can reach 97 mph and he has a slider. But the pitch that stands out the most is his changeup, which is rated by many scouts as one of the best in college baseball.
Reds amateur scouting director Joe Katuska liked that Lowder was an advanced college pitcher with consistent pitch execution.
“It’s a long track record, the stuff, the command and control and all that line up to be a Major League starter,” Katuska said. “He should be able to move pretty quickly. Obviously, we have to recognize that he threw a lot of innings this year at Wake, and we have to protect his long-term potential and not do anything reckless out of the gates, but I would anticipate that he will be a relatively fast-moving college pitcher.”
Lowder’s secondary pitches became strengths because he was late in developing his fastball velocity in high school, which was in the 80-90 mph range. He further developed his arsenal at the Wake Forest Pitching Lab.
“I was always getting outs and finding ways to pitch. I had to find ways to win when I wasn’t throwing very hard,” Lowder said. “I kind of learned to pitch, mix counts early. Once I added weight and velocity, it was still there. I just did it backwards. Some guys add the velocity first and then learn. I feel like I did it. it the other way.”
In a memorable last start, against eventual national champion LSU in the College World Series, Lowder went toe-to-toe with MLB Pipeline’s top pitching prospect and No. 1 overall pick, Paul Skenes, pitching seven scoreless innings while allowing only three hits.
LSU won the game, 2-0, in 11 innings.
“Even before the game, I was kind of dialed in,” Lowder said. “It didn’t disappoint. Skenes pitched really well and they came out on top.”
Floyd had a great seat to watch Lowder work from the LSU dugout.
“He’s pretty damn good, I’d say. He’s dirty,” Floyd said. “He pushed it up our tail for about seven innings and stuff, so we had no shot against him. I’m excited to play him.”
Although Lowder is considered a polished pitcher, he still looks forward to developing his game at the professional level.
“There’s a lot of things I’ve worked on and will continue to work on using the Reds’ development system,” Lowder said.