This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.  

It was only a couple years ago that Nathaniel Lowe was a platoon player in the Rays organization. He made his Major League debut in 2019 and played a combined 71 games through two seasons before being traded to the Rangers in late 2020.

But since he arrived in Texas, Lowe has proved to be what manager Chris Woodward describes as an “everyday guy” in the lineup.

“It's kind of something that is another piece of my journey,” Lowe said. “Having to deal with that in Tampa [Bay] was something that definitely made me better. And now, having a chance to perform every day and get recognition from my manager, and hopefully up top higher than that, is really comforting and encouraging that they trust me to go out there and play my game.”

Lowe showed flashes of what he can do on both offense and defense over the weekend against the White Sox, specifically in the series finale. The 27-year-old first baseman went 3-for-5 with a homer in the seventh, one run and two RBIs. Though the Rangers ended up losing, 8-2, Lowe’s late-game heroics continued in the final frames as he turned a 3-6 double play in the eighth inning, topped off by a highlight-worthy play at the net in the ninth.

“He’s the most reliable guy. I mean, honestly, right now, he’s our best hitter,” Woodward said. “Day in and day out, he just has quality at-bat after quality at-bat. He’s put in a ton of work and on the defensive side, something we challenged him on this offseason coming into the season. He's had his tough moments, but at the same time, he puts his work in and really wants to be a good defender out there.”

While Lowe has seen some highs, he’s also seen some lows (no pun intended) and is unlucky at times, which Woodward acknowledged. The only months his average has been below .300 this season were May and July, which he’s already rebounding from with hits in all but three games entering Thursday in the month of August.

Through 105 games entering Thursday, Lowe leads everyday starters -- Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Adolis García, Kole Calhoun -- with a .281 batting average. In nine games this month, he’s slashing .353/.421/.500.

“I want to see him finish the season off leaving us zero question marks about his status with us and being a centerpiece for our team. A championship piece,” Woodward said. “But it is important that he does finish strong.”

Lowe has tried to answer some of the question marks surrounding his game -- and he plans to continue doing so, even if he won't get into much detail about what those may be. He's already thinking about how he can improve heading into the offseason to help both the Rangers and himself.