Rhett Hamilton Lowder (born March 8, 2002) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

in the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

organization.

Amateur career

Lowder went to North Stanly High School located

New London, North Carolina New London is a town in Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 600 at the 2010 census, and was estimated to be 724 as of 2019. The town lies between Albemarle and Richfield along U.S. 52 in the southern Piedmont reg ...

, where he played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

. During his sophomore season in 2018, he pitched a 9–2 record and with a 1.03 ERA. As a junior in 2019, he went 9–0 with a 0.61 ERA, 115 strikeouts, and seven walks over 68.1 innings. His senior season in 2020 was shortened due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and he was unselected in the shortened

2020 Major League Baseball draft The 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season ...

, leading to him enrolling at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private university, private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Wake Forest, north of Rale ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

. During his freshman season at Wake Forest in 2021, Lowder appeared in 14 games (making 12 starts) in which he went 4–2 with a 6.12 ERA, 78 strikeouts, and 14 home runs allowed over 67.2 innings. That summer, he played for the Strasburg Express of the

Valley Baseball League The Valley Baseball League is an NCAA and MLB-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. The league was started in 1923 and sanctioned by the NCAA in 1961. It has been a wooden bat league since 199 ...

. As a sophomore in 2022, Lowder started 16 games and pitched to an 11–3 record with a 3.08 ERA, 105 strikeouts and 26 walks over 99.1 innings. He was named the

Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Year The Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Year is a baseball award given to the Atlantic Coast Conference's most outstanding pitcher. The award was first given after the 2005 season. Key Winners Winners by school Footnotes * The ...

, becoming the first ever player from Wake Forest to win the award. Following the season's end, he was named to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team . In 2023, Lowder went 15–0, leading

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

in wins, and also finished in the top 10 nationally in ERA (1.87), strikeouts (a school-record 143), and

WHIP A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...

(0.95), playing a key role in the Deacons' run to the Men's College World Series. Lowder repeated as the ACC Pitcher of the Year, and was also a consensus first-team All-American, the ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and the men's

ACC Athlete of the Year The Atlantic Coast Conference Athlete of the Year award is given to the male and female athlete who show extraordinary talent throughout the entire season. The award is decided by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Anthony J. ...

across all sports, sharing the last of these honors with women's winner

Katelyn Tuohy Katelyn Tuohy (born March 18, 2002) is an American middle- and long-distance runner. She is a four-time NCAA champion (3000 meters, 5000 meters outdoor and indoor, and cross country). By the 2019 cross country season, Tuohy had won five Gatorad ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest u ...

cross country and track.

Professional career

The

selected Lowder in the first round, with the seventh overall selection, of the

2023 MLB draft The 2023 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 9–11, 2023, in Seattle. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. For the first time, a draft lottery was used to set a portion of the draft order. The first six selections ...

. On July 14, 2023, Lowder signed with the Reds for an under slot deal worth $5.7 million.

References

External links

Wake Forest Demon Deacons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowder, Rhett 2002 births Living people Baseball players from North Carolina Baseball pitchers Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball players United States national baseball team players