Angels trade for Josh Lowe comes with a clear lineup dilemma

The Los Angeles Angels desperately needed to add an athletic presence to their outfield. Mike Trout's days out there should be done, though, with the Angels, you never know. Jorge Soler could wind up getting a lot of run in left field, which is a scary proposition. And Jo Adell has the athleticism, but not always the instincts, to be a positive force with the glove. That's where the club hopes Josh Lowe comes in.

The three-team deal that sent Lowe to Los Angeles was a bit of a head-scratcher for a variety of reasons. Brock Burke appeared to be one of the Halos' top bullpen arms, which might not be saying much given the questionable nature of the unit overall. But in Perry Minasian's mind, he was a worthy sacrifice for Lowe.

Things could work out with Lowe, especially if he can return to something resembling his 2023 form, when he hit 20 homers and stole 32 bases while posting an .835 OPS. His addition also gives Los Angeles a second lefty bat to pencil into the lineup alongside Nolan Schanuel, bringing about a balance that has been sorely lacking. With that, however, comes a glaring hole, and it's something the Angels don't have an easy solution to fix.

Josh Lowe adds a left-handed bat to the Angels' lineup, but his presence creates another conundrum

Unlike Schanuel, who has a career .731 OPS against righties and a .704 mark against southpaws, Lowe struggles mightily against same-handed pitching. For his career, he's slashed just .181/.240/.264 against lefties, while striking out 33% of the time. He was actually worse than his career average against left-handers in 2025, slashing .165/.224/.235.

For his career against righties, Lowe owns a .266/.322/.450 line, making him a clear platoon bat, and one who has the chance to thrive while also getting the majority of the reps in a timeshare. That's the good.

The bad is that the Halos have no real viable option to platoon him with. Bryce Teodosio is the most likely option, but he lacks experience overall, and his .699 career OPS against left-handed pitching comes in just 30 plate appearances and brings with it a paltry 3.3% walk rate to go against a 33.3% strikeout rate. Waiver claim Wade Meckler has even less experience and is another left-handed bat, making it unlikely that he'd be up to the task.

The Angels might be tempted to bring up Nelson Rada to share time with Lowe. Rada's another lefty bat, but his 82.4% contact rate last season at Triple-A Salt Lake could suggest that he, like Schanuel, can hold his own as a guy who can put the ball in play against southpaws.

However, Rada is just 20 years old and presumably, the deal for Lowe was to give the Halos another option so they didn't need to rush the youngster to the big leagues. Furthermore, if Rada does get the call, then he should be playing every day in order to facilitate his development, rather than stifle it by only calling upon him in disadvantageous situations.

Lowe is a nice, high-upside pickup in a vacuum, but on a team that lacks depth like the Angels, it's hard to see the fit, and the move seems doomed to fail unless there's another addition coming down the pike.