{"id":552512,"date":"2026-03-22T04:09:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T04:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/552512\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T04:09:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T04:09:33","slug":"reds-to-select-nathaniel-lowes-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/552512\/","title":{"rendered":"Reds To Select Nathaniel Lowe’s Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nathaniel Lowe<\/a> has earned a spot on the Reds\u2019 roster, reports C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic<\/a>. The veteran first baseman signed<\/a> a minor league deal with the club in mid-February. He\u2019s set to make $1.75MM with the big-league squad, with an additional $250K available in incentives. Rosecrans notes that Lowe is expected to take the 40-man roster spot of Hunter Greene<\/a>, who is headed to the 60-day IL after undergoing elbow surgery.<\/p>\n

Cincinnati announced outfielders Rece Hinds<\/a> and J.J. Bleday<\/a> were optioned to Triple-A. Lowe and Dane Myers<\/a> will round out the bench, along with backup catcher Jose Trevino<\/a> and utilityman Spencer Steer<\/a>. The Reds also sent right-hander Zach Maxwell<\/a> to Triple-A. Left-hander Sam Moll<\/a> has secured the final bullpen spot, per Rosecrans.<\/p>\n

Lowe was dealt from the Rangers to the Nationals for reliever Robert Garcia<\/a> last offseason. He hit just .216 in 119 games with Washington and was cut in mid-August. Lowe then latched on with the Red Sox. He recovered some value in Boston, slashing .280\/.370\/.420 across 119 plate appearances. The final result was still a career-worst 91 wRC+. The 30-year-old received minimal interest this winter, but a strong Spring Training will propel him to a major league gig. Lowe posted a 143 wRC+ in 15 spring games. He racked up seven extra-base hits, including three home runs.<\/p>\n

Hinds did all he could to earn a job in the spring. He belted five home runs and drove in 11 across 43 plate appearances. The 25-year-old is known for his big power, but he also hit .410 in the limited Spring Training sample.<\/p>\n

The Reds didn\u2019t necessarily need to keep another first baseman, with Steer a capable backup behind Sal Stewart<\/a>, but the decision came down to getting Hinds regular reps. \u201cI was very careful with how I worded it with him,\u201d manager Terry Francona said about breaking the news to the outfielder. \u201c(Hinds) did enough to make the team, but the role is a bench role, and we want you to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bleday signed a one-year deal in late December. He made a strong case for a roster spot himself, launching four home runs and getting on base at a .364 clip. Bleday had seemingly emerged as a consistent contributor with the Athletics, slashing .243\/.324\/.437 with a career-best 20 home runs in 2024. He stumbled to a .656 OPS over the first two months of the 2025 campaign and found himself back in Triple-A. Bleday returned to the big-league club in August, but was designated for assignment at the end of the season. He and Hinds both have a minor league option remaining.<\/p>\n

Maxwell, affectionately known as Big Sugar, will head back to the minors as the Reds opt for another lefty in the pen. The 6\u20196\u2033, 275-pound righty with the triple-digit fastball delivered solid results in his first taste of the majors last year. Maxwell posted a 30.2% strikeout rate with an xFIP and SIERA just above 3.00. He punched out hitters at a 31% clip this spring, though a few shaky outings to begin Cactus League action led to a 5.40 ERA.<\/p>\n

Moll is out of options, while Maxwell still has three left. The veteran gives the Reds another left-handed middle reliever while Caleb Ferguson<\/a> is sidelined. Cincinnati also added Brock Burke<\/a> in a trade this offseason. Brandon Williamson<\/a> is in the pen, though he\u2019ll be more of a long relief\/piggyback starter option.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Frank Bowen IV of The Enquirer via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathaniel Lowe has earned a spot on the Reds\u2019 roster, reports C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,132085,462,46185,214420,214421,82,214422],"class_list":{"0":"post-552512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-j-j-bleday","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-nathaniel-lowe","13":"tag-rece-hinds","14":"tag-sam-moll","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-zach-maxwell"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}