Brandon Lowe’s first year in Pittsburgh ended with a place in franchise history.
The Pirates second baseman was named to the All-MLB Second Team on Wednesday, finishing behind Milwaukee’s Brice Turang for the top spot at the position. Lowe was recognized with the league’s best players at the MLB Awards presented by MGM Rewards in Las Vegas.
Lowe’s debut season with Pittsburgh packed plenty into one line on the stat sheet: 96 RBIs, an .824 OPS and a major league-leading total among second basemen with 35 home runs. He also remains in the mix for more hardware, as a National League Silver Slugger Award finalist for the second straight year.
The move to Pittsburgh came last offseason in a three-team trade with Tampa Bay and Houston that also brought Mason Montgomery and Jake Mangum to the Pirates. Lowe’s impact wasn’t limited to the bat.
His defense took a big jump, going from a -10 fielding run value in 2025 with the Rays to a +12 with Pittsburgh. That turnaround helped put him on the Gold Glove Award ballot for the first time in his career.
He also played 150 games, a career high, and finished with a personal-best 5.4 bWAR.
Lowe was one of 12 second basemen on the ballot, including three others from the NL Central. The All-MLB honors are designed to reward full-season production, unlike All-Star selections, which are based on first-half performance.
Fans voted at MLB.com to help determine the First and Second Teams at each position, with the pool including three outfielders, a designated hitter, five starting pitchers and two relievers. Only regular-season performance counted.
Turang had the edge in the overall race, backed by a 7.3 bWAR, 19 stolen bases and a Gold Glove Award as part of Milwaukee’s World Series-winning club. On Baseball Reference’s comparison page, Lowe came out on top only in home runs, slugging percentage and OPS.
The honor adds another line to Lowe’s resume. He earned Second Team recognition in the shortened 2020 season and has been an All-Star twice in his career. For Pittsburgh, he made a little more history too: Lowe became the first Pirates position player to land on an All-MLB team, and the second Pirates player overall after Paul Skenes’ selections in 2024 and 2025.
Of the five Pirates players nominated, Lowe was the only one to make one of the teams. Skenes and Braxton Ashcraft missed out among the starting pitchers, while Montgomery and third baseman Nick Gonzales also were not selected.
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