Quarantine fitness: Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe credits wife with helping him train

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe is just like his teammates – he’s trying to stay in shape during this hiatus from baseball and he’s got mostly everything he needs in his home gym.

But he has an ace up his sleeve with his wife Madison. She was a Division-I softball player at the University of Maryland, where Brandon also played baseball.

She knows her way around a batting cage and the diamond, and has been an invaluable workout partner – especially during this coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s incredible,” Brandon said. “I thank God every day to have someone that understands everything that I’m going through on a daily basis and to have someone that I can confide in and stuff like that. She can actually have a good conversation about what she sees when she’s in the stance or I can come up to her and say can you give me some front toss or can we go outside and throw? It’s amazing to have.”

Brandon and Madison do the baseball workouts together, but workout on their own at separate times in their garage gym. But the quarantine activities, or “Quarantine Games” as they call it, goes well beyond their workout space.

You didn’t think you could have a couple of athletes quarantined without a little competition, did you?

“We’ve been playing a lot of board games and games in general – like badminton and ladder ball – whatever we can kill the time with,” Madison said. “We’ve actually started in the last few days a list of who’s winning for the day. Right now, Brandon’s actually winning so hopefully after this we can get back on there and tie it up. But we’re keeping a tally so hopefully, at the end of this we’ll crown a winner of the ‘Quarantine Games.'”

The Lowes, who are active in giving back to the Tampa area with their “Home Runs for Hope” charity, are also spending this downtime helping those less fortunate. In conjunction with The Rays Foundation and the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Brandon and Madison are participating in Feeding Tampa Bay’s virtual food drive to help provide meals to those in need throughout this COVID-19 crisis.