How Exactly Does Nathaniel Lowe Fit on the Reds Roster?

Coming into this past offseason, it was clear that a main goal for Cincinnati Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall was to raise the floor of his ballclub.

The 2025 Reds saw more than enough at-bats go to guys like Connor Joe, Garrett Hampson, and Jeimer Candelario. With all due respect to those guys, they are not the types of players that should be getting ABs for a legitimate contender.

Enter Nathaniel Lowe, who the Reds brought in on a minor league contract this offseason, and who did enough in spring training to make the big league club.

Lowe was in the midst of a very disappointing 2025 season, hitting .216/.292/.373 with the Washington Nationals through 119 games, when he was designated for assignment.

The 30-year-old first baseman immediately signed with the Red Sox and finished the year slashing .280/.370/.420 through 34 games in Boston, showing that his stint in Washington was just a blip on the radar. After all, Lowe is a career .264/.347/.424 hitter.

While Lowe is not a huge power-hitting first baseman, he is good to slot in for 16-20 home runs, a number that might tick up a little in Great American Ball Park. In fact, in 2022, Lowe went deep 27 times, though that appears to be a bit of an outlier.

Lowe came into camp competing with outfielders Will Benson, Rece Hinds, and another offseason addition, JJ Bleday, for one of Cincinnati’s last roster spots.

After hitting .268/.362/.585 in spring training, Lowe officially made the roster, beating out Bleday for the final spot. Benson was notified he had made the team earlier in the week before.

Now, like I said, the addition of Lowe was made in an effort to raise the floor of this team.

Spencer Steer is coming off a down year at the plate but a good defensive season at first base. Top prospect Sal Stewart is expected to get extended run anywhere he can in an effort to get his bat in the lineup, and the DH spot is seemingly going to be filled with big offseason addition and old friend Eugenio Suárez.

So how does Lowe fit in?

The short answer is, in a limited bench role.

The longer answer is a bit more complicated than that, as I do believe there is a small possibility for an expanded role.

Let’s start with last year’s starting first baseman, Spencer Steer. With the rise of Stewart, Steer only appeared at first sporadically during the spring. Although he primarily played first in 2025, Steer is a utility player at heart, able to play first, second, corner outfield, and even a bit of third base.

Now, he is not likely to mix in at third, as there are plenty of other options there. With Benson, TJ Friedl, Noelvi Marte, and Dane Myers as the other four outfielders on the current roster, the grass is the place for Steer to figure into the mix, as it is an outfield with a low floor.

That leaves Stewart and Geno as guys blocking Lowe from playing time, as they figure to be the everyday guys at first and DH.

Stewart is a dude at the plate. In fact, I believe there is a real chance that he is the club’s best overall hitter this season as a rookie.

Geno was a reverse splits guy in 2025, with an OPS about 150 points better against righties than lefties. Yet, for his career, he has much better on-base numbers against southpaws.

Lowe, a lefty batter, owns a career .789 OPS against righties and a .729 mark against lefties. What’s more, a large reason for Lowe’s down year in 2025 was the 250-point difference in his righty/lefty split that saw him put up just a .504 OPS against southpaws. His .762 OPS against right-handers wasn’t so far off from his career average.

The Reds don’t want Lowe subbing in for Suárez against a southpaw, but Lowe can work into the lineup against a right-handed starter if Geno is getting one of his rare off days.

Looking at Stewart, he should be playing almost every day. The path to playing time for Lowe is if some of Stewart’s reps are coming at different spots across the infield.

Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes is a tremendous defender coming off of his second Gold Glove-winning season. But, the stick is really lacking at the plate.

Hayes is an interesting case, as for his career, he is a much better hitter against lefties than righties. Yet, in 2025, that was completely flipped, making it a little hard to project what to expect this season.

Still, we can expect Hayes to be an all-world defender who is not going to be coming off the field late in games when the Reds have a lead. However, he may be coming off in place of a pinch hitter when the team is trailing. Lowe should be first up in that role.

Beyond that, if Hayes does revert to his career norms and hits lefties significantly better, we could see off days for him come against righties, allowing Sal Stewart to slide over to third base and Lowe to play first. Or, Geno could get in the field at third and Lowe could DH. Whichever it is, it is a path.

The worst outcome is Lowe becoming an everyday player because Stewart is not ready. After Stewart’s productive debut at the end of last season and tremendous spring, that is hard to fathom. But, it needs to be mentioned.

In a perfect world, Lowe is not an everyday guy for the Reds in 2026. But, he is a bench piece they can feel great about, who should see at least one or two starts a week. He is a great addition to this ballclub and really does raise the floor tremendously. Reds fans should feel good about having Lowe on the roster in 2026.