Nathaniel Lowe trade to Guardians paved the way for Reds top prospect

The MLB trade deadline came and went, and the Cincinnati Reds did very little to improve the organization. In fact, one could argue they made big-league roster worse. The Reds traded Nathaniel Lowe to the Cleveland Guardians and Caleb Ferguson landed with the St. Louis Cardinals.

But in the aftermath of the underwhelming deadline was news of a prospect promotion. President of baseball operations Nick Krall told reporters on Monday that the Reds plan to call up top outfield prospect Héctor Rodriguez ahead of Tuesday's series opener against the Athletics.

Reds prospect Héctor Rodríguez receives promotion after Nathaniel Lowe trade to Guardians

Rodríguez's performance in Triple-A this season has been begging for a call-up. In 104 games with the Louisville Bats, Rodríguez is hitting .274/.347/.533 with 27 home runs, 69 RBI, six stolen bases, and a 123 wRC+. It can be assumed that Rodríguez, who like Lowe is a left-handed hitter, will slide into the everyday lineup with the now departed Silver Slugger in Cleveland.

Fellow rookie Sal Stewart gave Rodríguez a glowing review during the All-Star Game last month, and the 22-year-old has done nothing to refute that praise. Rodríguez is a notorious bad ball hitter and has a 63.3% O-contact rate at Triple-A Louisville this season. This advanced metric is used to help measure a player's plate discipline, and will be something to watch once Rodríguez arrives in the bigs.

Rodríguez can play all three outfield, but has typically spent most of his time in the corners. This season, he's played 55 games in right field, 28 in left, and another three up the middle. Reds fans should probably expect to see the starting combination of Rodríguez, JJ Bleday, and Dane Myers most nights in the outfield.

Rodríguez is already part of the Reds' 40-man roster, and with Lowe now part of the Guardians organization, Cincinnati can simply fill his spot in the lineup by recalling the outfielder to the active roster.

While most fans seem to be rather disappionted with the Reds' trade deadline strategy, Rodríguez promotion can give everyone something to get excited about. Fans undoubtedly hope his first foray into the big leagues yields better results than Edwin Arroyo's debut. The Reds optioned the struggling rookie back to Triple-A just last week.

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