Most surprising Silver Slugger winner in Texas Rangers' history

It feels like forever ago when Nathaniel Lowe shocked Major League Baseball with a tremendous display of contact and slug on his way to his first Louisville Slugger AL Silver Slugger Award three seasons ago.

Many Texas Rangers' fans vividly remember that as a hopeful mark of the team's next franchise-altering first baseman on par with fan favorites Mark Teixeria and Mitch Moreland. He still had to transform his defense but there was a lot of optimism for the 26-year-old lefty.

That doesn't mean fans saw his rise and top AL offensive first baseman coming. They were probably still getting familiar with Lowe, having been traded to Texas from Tampa Bay the season prior.

Lowe's Silver Slugger in 2022 came as shock to fans, MLB

Playing in 157 games for the Rangers, Lowe spent majority of the season at first base with a splattering of designated hitter spots in the lineup for a team that went 68-94, in a season that saw the firings of manager Chris Woodward and longtime President of Baseball Operations Jon Daniels.

However, the first baseman Daniels traded for in 2021, Lowe put up a 3.2 WAR season in '22 and slashed .302/.358/.492 with 26 doubles, 27 doubles 76 RBIs and an .851 OPS.

That season earned him the Silver Slugger over Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jose Abreu and Anthony Rizzo. All three who had significant cases to win the award, whether it was Guerrero Jr. or Rizzo's AL-leading 32 homers, Abreu's league leading .304 average.

Doesn't mean Lowe was less of deserving, his stats proved otherwise, winning against two of the most previous AL 1B Silver Sluggers (Abreu, '20 and Guerrero Jr., '21) and a player who had a tremendous season in Yankee pinstripes.

Offensive decline in '23 hurt Lowe's status with franchise

The following season was such an opposite display of talent for Lowe, who took a slight decline with the bat in '23 but was matched with his first career Rawling's Gold Glove at first base.

It was starting to look great for Lowe. He still hit 17 homers and drove in six more runs than previous season (76 to 82 RBIs), played in 161 of the Rangers' 162 regular season games and added a .998 fielding percentage.

But a less productive second half of 2023, sub-par postseason and then an even worse 2024 season at the plate saw Lowe eventually get traded to the Washington Nationals prior to the 2025 season and replaced on the roster by Jake Burger.

That trade still hurts a lot of Rangers' fans and to this day people think the organization made a mistake in trading Lowe. It can't be undone though and Texas will always have his Silver Slugger, Gold Glove and World Series contributions.

FanSided and Louisville Slugger partner for 2025 Silver Slugger Awards

This coverage is part of FanSided's coverage and collaboration with Louisville Slugger to bring fan-driven, engaging content on the history of the Silver Slugger awards leading up to the announcement of the finalists and winners.

FanSided will have exclusive access to the 2025 reveal and MLB I insider Robert Murray and Adam Weinrib will bring you along on "The Baseball Insiders: A FanSided MLB Podcast." The National League livestream will be Nov. 6 on YouTube at 6 p.m. EST, and the American League livestream will be Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. EST.