When the Nationals released Nathaniel Lowe on August 16, it didn’t exactly make headlines outside of the Nationals community. He was having a terrible year in every facet of the game, and it was really nothing more than a move to open up a roster spot for Dylan Crews as he came off the IL.
But ever since the Red Sox signed him on August 18, he’s torn it up. He’s slashing .350/.417/.600, good for a 179 OPS+. His defense has improved as well; according to Baseball-Reference, he had -13 Total Zone runs and -5 Defensive Runs Saved for Washington, but for Boston, those totals are at 1 and 0, respectively. He suddenly looks like his old self (better, in fact), a player who might make a real difference on a team in the midst of a competitive playoff race.
Baseball expert Tyler Milliken summed up this crazy twist of events on Saturday, posting on X that Lowe had already put up 0.2 fWAR for the Red Sox after accumulating just -0.8 fWAR all season for the Nationals. He also pointed out that Lowe’s first 3 hits for Boston all went for extra bases.
This development feels like a typical story for the Nationals organization; nothing seems to go their way recently. Hindsight is certainly making it look like a bad move. But was it? Or is this just a possibility that the Nationals had to live with?
It probably was, mainly because it felt inevitable that Lowe would be gone by this offseason at the latest. He was already making more $10.3 million this year, and given that next year is his final year of arbitration, he might have gotten a slight raise even with his poor performance for most of this year. Few teams would want to pay a player heading sharply in the wrong direction and showing no signs of turning it around a significant chunk of money, and a struggling team like the Nationals wouldn’t be one of the few ones who might. More likely than not, they’ll still be in rebuild mode next offseason, and thus would prefer to save up their money for future years when they’ll be really trying to win. And if they do want to make a run at contending in 2026, there will certainly be better options available via free agency or trade. Jackson Lynch wrote on District on Deck on August 11 that it would be better for Washington to turn to younger options than to bring back Lowe next year.
And that brings us to the last piece of this puzzle: what are the Nationals going to do at first base, in both the short and long term, without Lowe? Stephen Newman suggested on District on Deck Thursday that the Nationals should shift Luis Garcia Jr. from second to first and try out youngsters Jose Tena or Nasim Nunez at second, citing Garcia’s poor defense at second base as cause for a change. While that’s certainly an option, Garcia’s value would be limited if he was moved to an easier position in first base. Another possibility would be to keep Garcia at second and hope his defense improves, and try out Andres Chaparro or Yohandy Morales at first.
Ultimately, it’s up to the Nationals’ organization to decide which young players they want to give the most playing time to. They’ll have to use their first-hand feel for these players, and might want to rotate through as many of them as possible.