Zacary William Lowther (born April 30, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Career
Lowther attended Cuyahoga Heights High School in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio, and played as a pitcher for their baseball team. He also started on the varsity football team for two seasons. In three years on the varsity team, Lowther had a 12–2 win–loss record, a 0.71 earned run average (ERA), and 201 strikeouts. He enrolled at Xavier University and played college baseball for the Xavier Musketeers. He led the Big East Conference with 86 strikeouts in 2016, his sophomore year. That summer, he pitched for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and led the league with 54 strikeouts. In 2017, Lowther set an Xavier single-season record with 123 strikeouts and was named to the All-Big East Conference team.
The Baltimore Orioles selected Lowther in the second round, with the 74th overall selection, of the 2017 MLB draft. He became the highest draft pick from Xavier's baseball program. Lowther signed with the Orioles, receiving a $779,500 signing bonus. He pitched for the Aberdeen IronBirds of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League after he signed, going 2–2 with a 1.66 ERA in 12 games (11 starts). He began the 2018 season with the Delmarva Shorebirds of the Class A South Atlantic League. In May, the Orioles promoted Lowther to the Frederick Keys of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League and he finished the season there. In 23 games (22 starts) between the two clubs, he pitched to an 8–4 record with a 2.18 ERA.
Lowther spent 2019 with the Bowie Baysox of the Class AA Eastern League, going 13–7 with a 2.55 ERA over 26 starts, striking out 154 batters over 148 innings.
Lowther did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 20, 2020, Lowther was added to the 40-man roster.
On April 25, 2021, Lowther was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut that day against the Oakland Athletics, pitching a scoreless ninth inning, also punching out Matt Chapman for his first major league strikeout.
Personal life
Lowther's father, Marc, coached him from the time he was six years old through his career at Cuyahoga Heights.