Former Star First Baseman DFA’d By Nationals

It's a stunning end to his short tenure in Washington. One day after hitting a grand slam, former star first baseman Nathaniel Lowe has now been designated for assignment by the Nationals.

The Nationals have designated Nathaniel Lowe for assignment pic.twitter.com/aGQDfRiszW
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 14, 2025

The DFA is a shocking and quick end to Lowe's Nats career, after they traded for him from Texas last offseason, hoping he would be a long-term fixture at first base. But his production has never gotten back to his 2022 level, when he slugged 27 home runs with a .302 average, .858 OPS and a 139 OPS+ for the Texas Rangers, winning the Silver Slugger as the top hitting first baseman in the American League. He followed that up in '23 with a Gold Glove, but his average dropped to .262, and he hit 10 fewer homers.

Lowe has been consistent since then, averaging around 16 or 17 homers a season, but his batting average plummeted to .216 this year with the Nats, and his OPS was down over 100 points to .665, while his OPS+ was just 88, 12% below league average.

Over his four-year run in Texas ending last year, he had a solid slashline of .274/.359/.432 with a .791 OPS and an OPS+ about 24% better than the average hitter.

But with a $10 million arbitration settlement this season, the Nationals felt they just weren't getting the production they expected out of Lowe, and have decided to cut bait.

The grand slam he hit on Wednesday was only his 3rd hit in the entire first two weeks of August, and his first homer in nearly four weeks.