Red Sox trade idea could land Nationals Silver Slugger to fill Triston Casas void at first base
Although there's less than 50 games played in the 2025 season, the Boston Red Sox have looked shaky in several aspects of play. One looming issue for the team is the void that's left by Triston Casas at first base. The 25-year-old has been a stable presence at first but a devastating knee injury has effectively ruled him out for the year.
Boston has announced that they've approached club cornerstone Rafael Devers to man the spot, to which the latter refused. One option that the team could explore, however, is the signing of former Silver Slugger Nathaniel Lowe from the Washington Nationals.
Lowe is currently on the last year of his contract and a trade rental could perhaps do wonders for what has been a wildly inconsistent Red Sox side. The former Silver Slugger and Gold Glover currently has eight home runs and 33 RBI while batting .227/.306/.409 with an OPS of .715.
Unlike Casas, who has generated a -0.9 bWAR, Lowe has tallied a postive 0.1 bWAR so far. Another advantage that Lowe has over Casas is the batting run value. Per Baseball Savant, Casas is within the measly 17th-percentile of batting run value whilst Lowe is within the 53rd-percentile, meaning that the latter has been an above average hitter when it comes to delivering runs.
It's also interesting to not that Lowe is within the 65th-percentile when it comes to chase rate and has finished within the top 10% of base on balls percentage in three of the last four seasons.
Given the Red Sox' current 22-23 record, it would take a minor miracle for them to unseat the Yankees in the AL East penthouse. On the other hand, it would be easy for the 20-27 Washington Nationals to trade away an award-winning first baseman like Lowe for future pieces given the team's present state and position in the division.
Red Sox tussle with Braves in series-decider
The Boston Red Sox are set to face-off against the Atlanta Braves in the series-decider of their Rivalry Weekend fixture. The visitors took Game 1 from Boston but the latter bounced in Game 2, courtesy of Rafael Devers' first career walkoff home run.
The undefeated Brayan Bello is set to start for the Sox in the decider. He currently holds a 2-0 card across five starts with a 2.33 ERA and 17 strikeouts. Bello is scheduled to face Spencer Schwellenbach who has been serviceable for the Braves with a 2-3 record and 3.31 ERA. Game starts today at 1:35 p.m., Eastern.