Nathaniel Lowe Joins Mark Teixeira Reaching Texas Rangers Milestone

Red-hot Texas Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe leads the club in doubles and walks.

When it comes to big bats, the Texas Rangers are well stocked.

Just start with the All-Star quintet of Adolis García, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jonah Heim and rookie Josh Jung when assessing the Texas power grid.

There’s also another who might not connect on as many tape-measure shots, but leads the Rangers in another muscle category. Nathaniel Lowe has more doubles this season than any of those All-Stars … or any other Texas slugger for that matter.

Only a little more than two-thirds of the way through the season, Lowe already has a career-high 30 doubles. He racked up a pair of two-baggers in Saturday’s 9-8 comeback win over the Miami Marlins at Globe Life Park, with both plating runs in the late innings.

Lowe had 24 and 26 doubles, respectively, in his first two years as the Rangers starting first baseman, needing 157 games in both 2021 and 2022 to reach those totals. He’s played just 110 games this summer to set a new personal mark.

The last Texas first baseman with at least 30 doubles in a season was Mark Teixeira with 45 in 2006. Lowe is also on pace similar to Teixeira’s output 17 years ago.

That’s the kind of production a winning team needs from a corner infielder. Lowe already has 60 RBI, which is on pace for nearly 90. (His career high was 76 last year.)

Lowe has been as hot at the Rangers (65-46) since the All-Star break. The American League West leaders are 13-7 since the Midsummer Classic, with five straight wins and the chance to sweep Miami on Sunday.

Lowe is slashing .357/.471/.586/1.057 (25-70) since the break with three home runs, a triple, five doubles and 15 RBI in 20 games.

Lowe does have the luxury of protection in the lineup. He’s always hitting behind Semien and Seager, while usually being in front of García and Jung. And he’s patient at the plate, leading the club with 64 walks.

That approach helped Lowe coax a 10-pitch at-bat against Marlins reliever Ryan Weathers in the seventh Saturday before drilling a double to score Corey Seager.

“They don’t want to walk me, so longer (at-bats), I feel the deeper you get in, the more chances you have of seeing everything they’ve got,” Lowe said. “If they make a borderline pitch, then good for them. But ideally, I’d like to get a pitch I can handle and I feel like I fouled off some tough pitches and I finally got a pitch I could handle.”

Added manager Bruce Bochy: “You love the long at-bats, especially when you win them. Nate, what a job he did.”

Lowe also drove in Leody Taveras in the eighth with another double, giving Texas a 9-6 lead. The Rangers needed those runs as the Marlins tried to rally with two runs in the ninth before falling short.

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