Nathaniel

Lowe

No surprise with crafty southpaw Martín Pérez toeing the rubber for Atlanta. Lowe will open this contest on the bench with Sal Stewart getting a turn at DH and Spencer Steer at first base. The 30-year-old veteran has been on a tear with three homers in his five games. He’s gone deep nine times over his last 30 games while hitting .293 (29-for-99) during that span. There are times where Cincinnati will keep him on the bench, mostly against left-handed starters, but Lowe has shown enough over-the-fence pop that he needs to be rostered in deeper fantasy leagues as a viable corner infield option.

This isn’t a big surprise, as Suárez was just activated off the injured list Friday after missing 25 games with his oblique strain. He’ll get the second half of the twin-billing off with JJ Bleday in the lineup as the designated hitter. Spencer Steer and Tyler Stephenson are also out of action with Nathaniel Lowe and P.J. Higgins getting the starts in their absence.

Lowe came into the day with a .213/.275/.319 line in 51 plate appearances this month, so he needs to heat up again with Eugenio Suárez nearing a return. More games like this will help keep him in the lineup, probably at Ke’Bryan Hayes’ expense.

Despite being one of the better hitters on the Reds of late, Lowe has sat in each of the last two games. We know the Reds’ offense is struggling to find a rhythm right now, but Lowe deserves to remain in the batting order for the time being. He can be put right back into your fantasy lineups.

Lowe has been swinging a hot bat for the Reds, slashing .273/.333/.636 with six homers and 11 RBI over 60 plate appearances in his last 16 games. He’ll get a breather in this one though. Sal Stewart will serve as the team’s designated hitter while Spencer Steer covers first base and Ke’Bryan Hayes draws a start at the hot corner.

It’s a routine off day for McLain with Reds manager Terry Francona moving Sal Stewart to second base to get Nathaniel Lowe into the lineup at DH to face Pirates righty Carmen Mlodzinski. JJ Bleday has been bumped up to the second spot in the order with McLain on the bench.

Lowe’s homer was his fifth of the year, a second-inning solo shot off Michael Lorenzen, and he later doubled and scored again. He was playing sporadically to begin the season but has now made seven straight starts at DH with Eugenio Suárez (oblique) on the IL. All of his round-trippers have come during this stretch.

Stewart has made five appearances at third base this season, but this is his first start. He started four games for the Reds there last year and plenty in the minor leagues, so we know he can play the position. What’s most interesting is that this allows the Reds to get Nathaniel Lowe in the lineup at first base and could open up a path to play both Stewart and Lowe when Eugenio Suarez (oblique) is off the IL and back at DH. This could be bad news for Ke’Bryan Hayes’ playing time.

After homering three times in the first two games of the series — including a two-run walk-off as the Reds were down to their final out on Saturday — Lowe kept the party going as he smacked a Keider Montero knucklecurve for a 372-foot (98.6 mph EV) solo shot to get the Reds on the board in the second inning. He finished the afternoon 1-for-4 and is now hitting a respectable .256/.333/.605 with four homers and 10 RBI on the season.

The Reds entered the ninth inning facing a one-run deficit and were down to their final out against Tigers’ closer Kenley Jansen with no one on base. Spencer Steer kept hope alive with a two-out single before Lowe stepped up and played the role of hero. He crushed an 0-1 sinker for a 396-foot (104.6 mph EV) two-run shot that sent the Reds’ home faithful into a frenzy. He also swatted a solo shot off of Kyle Finnegan in the sixth inning. The 30-year-old finished the night 2-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI and is now slashing a solid .257/.333/.514 with a pair of homers and eight RBI on the season.