Nathaniel Lowe showed off his combination of power and patience in his Nationals spring debut
The one player I came away most impressed with in the Washington Nationals win over the Mets was their new first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. It might sound cliche, but the guy is a professional hitter. His approach looked phenomenal and made me so excited to see more of him at the plate.
Lowe’s patience was a known calling card of his. He has walked at least 12% of the time in three of his four full seasons in the big leagues. However, I do not watch the Rangers day in and day out, so I am not familiar with the intricacies of Lowe’s game. In todays game, I was blown away. The way he takes pitches is so confident and relaxed. That may sound like a small thing, but trust me, after seeing some of the Nats hitters that have been run out the last few years it is a big deal to me.
A point of emphasis for Lowe this offseason was to tap into some more power. In 2022, the big first baseman hit 27 home runs, but he has not reached those heights in the last couple of seasons. He only hit 16 last season, but there is some reason for optimism.
After the all-star break, Lowe hit 10 home runs, despite having fewer at bats than he did in the first half. This could be a sign of things to come. The double Lowe hit in his third at bat would have been a home run if not for the wind, which was gusting in.
It feels like Lowe can at the very least be what Jesse Winker was last year. Provide professional at bats every day and sprinkle some power in too. However, if he has found another gear power wise, he could be an all-star.
Lowe did not get any chances to show it off today, but he is a gold glover over at first base. That was a big reason why the Nats wanted to bring him in. Davey Martinez even said as much on the MASN broadcast today. Over the last couple of years, Dom Smith and Joey Gallo have been pretty good defensively at first. However, Lowe is even better and brings an offensive threat that neither Smith or Gallo could even dream of providing.
There are a lot of players around the league that aren’t appreciated enough by fans of other teams. It seems like Nathaniel Lowe falls into that category. Today made me super excited to watch him man first base every day this season.