If it feels like the Cincinnati Reds are making roster moves daily that’s probably an accurate feelings. Between injuries, illnesses, and lack of performance the club has been shuffling players back and forth between Triple-A and the Reds have been sending a whole lot of transactions through the MLB offices in New York lately. Today marks another day for that as they are calling up outfielder Noelvi Marte from Louisville and optioning TJ Friedl to Triple-A.
It’s been a tough season for Friedl in 2026. He got out to a very slow start to begin the year and in mid-to-late April he seemed to start turning things around, hitting .311 with six doubles and two home runs between the 19th of April and May 3rd. But in 44 plate appearances since then he’s had four hits – all singles – and just three walks. That’s a .291 OPS for the better part of a month. He’s lost playing time during that stretch and just hasn’t been able to get things going in the right direction. Now he’ll get regularly playing time in Triple-A and hopefully get things turned around and be the hitter he’s been in the past.
Noelvi Marte also had a slow start to 2026. He hit just .138/.194/.138 with nearly every ball he made contact on being a grounder for the first two weeks of the season. Cincinnati had seen enough to think that he needed time in the minor leagues to get his swing and swing decisions right and optioned him to Triple-A.
Since arriving in Louisville on April 15th he has done nothing but crush the baseball. Marte has played in 40 games for the Bats since he was sent down and he’s hitting .369/.409/.575 with seven doubles, a triple, and eight home runs. He’s walked 12 times and struck out just 26 times.
With that impressive production, though, has come some concerns. While his groundball rate in MLB to start this season was an absurd 84.2%, even in Triple-A it’s been 49% (league average rate is 42%). For a player with his kind of power you want to see the ball off the ground a bit more.
The bigger question is about his strikezone discipline. In Triple-A he’s expanded the zone on 37% of the pitches he’s seen. While that’s an improvement over the 47% he had with Cincinnati earlier this year, the league average rate is just 30% and that’s facing big league pitchers. He’s also swinging less than ever at pitches in the zone when it comes to his time in Triple-A or the big leagues. He’s only swung at 49% of the pitches in the zone with the Bats.
What he has been quite good at, though, is making contact on pitches in the zone when he does swing. He’s made contact on 92% of the pitches in the zone he’s swung at, but he was also making contact on 91% of the pitches in the zone he swung at with the Reds earlier this year – the results of that have just been very different with Louisville. The league average rate on in-zone contact is 86%, so he’s been above-average there.
Another big difference is that in Triple-A he’s found himself in much better counts. With the Reds he saw a first pitch strike 71% of the time in 2026. The league average this season is just 61%. In Louisville he’s only seen first pitch strikes 51% of the time. Some of that could be his decision making to swing less overall. Some of it could just be random variance in a smaller sample size. But either way, he’s seeing fewer strikes to begin his plate appearances.
Where Noelvi Marte fits into the plans in the outfield isn’t yet known. He’s been playing center with the Bats more than right field. Will he play every day? Or will he be relegated to splitting time in the outfield with a rotation of other players? Either way, if he wants to keep playing he’s going to have to look far more like the hitter he showed he was in Louisville in 2026 than the one he showed in the first two weeks of the season with Cincinnati.
Always thought it made more sense for Marte to replace Friedl, not Benson. Benson at least can be used as a pinch runner and still has decent speed and a decent arm. Friedl provides none of those benefits.
Well, this is it. Arroyo and Marte are both on the team. They are pretty much Cincinnati’s last hope, as the cupboard is pretty bare behind them (unless you think HRod could help the team this year).
Let’s see what they can do. Arroyo’s early returns have not been encouraging.
If these guys are prospects that they envision to be the future, the future has to start now. What I mean by that is to let them both play steadily. They can’t let Benson and McLain have equal playing time and expect your future players to develop properly.
His failure to bunt last night was the final nail. Zero offense and a noodle arm doesn’t cut it. Marte needs to man up and take a spot, he needs to bring it.
Agree Brian. The difference in the pinch hit success of Friedl and Bendon coming off the bench WS telling. With a sub Mendoza batting average of the speed guy known for bunting can’t get it down. Then he has no value. With a sub Mendoza average Benson could at least hit a fly ball ( this one especially long).
Exactly right MK…
I’m surprised they didn’t just cut Friedl. He’s toast. When he couldn’t put a bunt down and ended up striking out, that was the end.
They have to pay him if they DFA him and he isn’t claimed by another team, which he wouldn’t have been. They probably couldn’t work out a trade in the DFA period, either, so they would still be stuck with his whole salary, minus the minimum MLB salary for any period he is on a MLB roster, which the new team is responsible for.
So, if they have to pay him, anyway, why DFA him, when he can at least theoretically get it going again in Louisville and return to CIN?
Exactly, they made the right move. Now if Friedl continues to flounder and they need his 40-man roster spot …
Have been a Freidl fan but he fell off a cliff this year and had to be moved down – should have been weeks ago. With our pitching overall in rough shape we need to increase our scoring to hang in while we wait to get our SPs back and figure out how to improve our relief staff. Marte has been the best option for a while. Need Suarez to light up too.
I don’t know what is the matter with Friedl, but it amazes me how bad people bash the guy. Friedl had the 2nd best OBP rate of any leadoff hitter in baseball last year; only behind some guy on the Dodgers. So many of you are ready to just dump him and rely on a prospect that has already failed multiple times. I’m all for the move in sending Friedl down, but I’m hoping this will help him get back to the player he was. Dumping him outright and giving up on him is just plain stupid.
I can’t imagine how tough it was for Francona to break the news to Friedl. Friedl was a big contributor to team success last year. But it needs to be done.
his defense and speed have been on the decline for a long time. TJ saw the writing on the wall, I’m sure.
Best thing for Both Friedl and Marte will be to get regular at-bats. That’s only certain in Friedl’s case.
Now let’s get HRod to Cincy for Benson. Lol I just want to be the first to bang that drum as we commenters always want the shiny new toy. That said, I’m only half kidding—HRod has pop, will take a walk, isn’t a platoon only guy, and his AAA OPS has gone up every month…….positionally finding him time in the OF might be tough, but if they were comfortable with TJ in CF then HRod shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. It may not be long til we see him.
Rodriguez has been a crazy free swinger but seems to have been successful dialing that back this year a little bit. I think he can contribute at some point but he’s so so young, I’d be shocked if major league pitching didn’t find some big weaknesses. I think he’ll cameo this year but he won’t be a big contributor until maybe next year maybe. He looks a lot like Marte in terms of plate discipline but younger and maybe less physical upside.
It is about time this team did not continue to run bad hitters out there day after day. If your in the major leagues you are there because you are expected to be the best in the world. If your AAA guys are figuring things out you make these kinds of moves. If you move them up and they fail against other teams major league players then you fire your GM cause there is no one left to bring up. What do we say about a franchise ownership(s) that for the most part that has been putting out poor to mediocre teams for over 30+ years? I guess we say, “please, oh please new CBA force baseball become a competitive game again”!
I have been a Friedl fan for quite a while. His decline this year has been hard for all. But you don’t throw out talent – ever. While he isn’t young, he isn’t old. If there is a chance of him rediscovering his swing, the Reds are looking for help. We have nothing to lose giving him some time to right the ship.
Marte has served his 40 day sentence for poor performance/poor attitude/poor attention to detail. Hopefully he trully got a wakeup call that it is now or never. Being a Major league player is a priviledge. Now he has to put forth the full effort to show he belongs.
That’s a good point Jimmy, maybe this was a wake up call for Marte. I’m still not sure Marte is really the answer for the Reds, especially as a Center Fielder. But hopefully he realizes this could be his last opportunity in Cincinnati at least to really become a starter.
Here’s the lineup I’d like to see tonight:
Bleday OF
Steer OF
Stewart 3B
Lowe 1B
Suarez DH
Marte OF
Arroyo 2B
Higgins C
McLain SS
doc I like your thinking on Higgins.
I have made a career crunching numbers. I do believe that analytics can be good. I also believe that an over reliance in analytics can be paralyzing. In other words paralysis from over analysis.
Swing rates in the zone, out of the zone, launch angle, barrel rate, spin rates, etc. are what I call “Predictive” statistics. In that they provide a prediction of what a player might accomplish or produce.
The old batting average, runs scored, RBI’s, ERA, I call “Production” statistics. It reveals actual results.
Marte’s 2026 “Predictive” stats while at L’ville have not been optimal, his “Production” stats have been very good.
Conclusion, it is actual PRODUCTION that gets the ring. And, analytics can help players achieve it.
“Production” stats in AAA literally tell you nothing. It tells you how a player produces against minor leaguers. If you are so convinced production stats tell you the story, you might want to take a look at Marte’s 2026 MLB production stats. They look an awful lot like his predictive stats. Imagine that.
You… are amazing!
@Doofus, I agree with you. Production results should trump predictive analysis. @Luke is right, false equivalency fallacy to equate AAA production with MLB production–Marte’s lack of production over his preceding 100 or so MLB plate appearances bought him his most recent demotion. Everyone’s expectations should be tempered by the fact that this is the fourth time Marte has transitioned from AAA to the majors.
Moving forward it’ll be Bleday, Marte/Meyers, Dunn/Benson. Next in line to be sent down is McLain as soon as EDLC returns from IL. Yet to be seen is if Arroyo and Marte can translate their hot hitting to the majors. But, as outlined above, the Reds have hit the end of the cupboard.
Hector and Acuna are still there. Unrelated to trades, but Aguiar also playing again.
McLain will never be sent down, regrettably.
Today we finally have reached the culmination of the Luis Castillo trade from Seattle. Marte & Arroyo were the crown jewels of the 4 players the Reds received. Enjoy the fruits of that trade while you can!
I loved Luis Castillo!! Absolute stud
I never liked that deal. While we got “fair” value back, my opinion is you never trade established and consistently healthy front line pitching unless someone is willing to over-pay. We thought 2023 was gonna be a rebuild year but many of the young guys (Friedl, McLain, Steer, Benson) had good years and a guy like Castillo would have helped us make a run in the playoffs that year. You just.never know when things just turn out “right”. 2023 was a missed opportunity.
Castillo only had 1 year left on his contract. You absolutely trade 1 year of starting pitching for 6 years of team control on two top prospects. Their alternative was to get one year more from Castillo and hope he re-signed with the Reds. And hope is not a strategy. Sometimes in this business you have to cut bait with a good player to move forward beyond their contract.
Well, the Mariners are loaded with starting pitchers and would probably be willing to depart with him, especially since he has a 5.53 ERA and a HardHit% that has gone up every year he’s been in Seattle.
It would cost the Reds $38 million to absorb his contract, although the Mariners would probably eat some of that. I don’t see the Reds biting on that.
Arroyo has only been on the job for two MLB games. I would call it unfair if anyone’s job performance was judged to be not very encouraging after two days. His defensive play at 2B has been very encouraging. Let’s give him a chance.
I agree. Arroyo has a tendency to chase pitches out of the strike zone, which has shown itself so far in his games in Cincinnati. But I’d keep playing him, if for no other reason than to make him understand that he will need to conquer his bad chase rate to thrive at this level.
I am sure he is aware.
Agree with the move. Well, the future is on the MLB roster now and the AAA cupboard is near empty or at least in need of a deep clean. Didn’t expect Friedl to implode. He doesn’t bunt anymore, seem a threat to steal a base (or even connect on a regular basis), and never had the arm to be a legitimate CF. Give Marte and Arroyo as many ABs as possible until the ASG. It’s all there for them. Sorry to say that if they can’t compete effectively, its hard to see where the upside comes from on this team. That “window” is starting to narrow if it even opened at all.
The whole concept of a “window” is silly in my opinion because Baseball is just more fickle than basketball (where windows actually make sense). The white sox were the worst team ever 2 years ago and now they’re in a playoff position (for the moment). Not because a window opened, but because they got some pleasant surprise contributions. Maybe those guys will be bad next year and they’ll lose 90 games again. Same with the Reds–if many guys pop off (e.g. Bleday, Stewart) and few guys fall off a cliff/get hurt (Friedl, Greene/Elly), they’ll be good. If it goes the other way, they’ll be bad. I don’t think any of us here would have great odds of predicting which of the middling guys (McLain, Friedl, Benson, Marte, Suarez, Arroyo, Lowe, Meyers, Dunn, Steer) is going to be good or bad from July – October. They’ll all get chances and we’ll see if enough of them can perform to lift up their team.
Now let’s see if he takes advantage of the move. It was the logical move to make. The Reds gave Friedl a decent opportunity to bounce back and it didn’t happen. Now let’s see if Marte has learned his lesson and puts in the effort the coaches expect. Like to see his performance like last summer, not what’s happened since.
Just saw the starting lineup. No Marte nor Arroyo.
Dunn in CF, Steer at 2B, Benson in RF.
It may have been a matter of when Noelvi Marte would actually arrive in Cincinnati as to whether he was in the lineup tonight.
As for Arroyo, maybe give him a night off to watch the game. There’s a lot of pressure on this young man, and stepping out for a night might help him adjust and relax.
I understand Marte being brought up. But I think there’s still some concerns that the Reds are trying to develop talent and prospects during a year that I think we felt like they were going to really try and take the next step and put together a team that can win the Division, or win around 90 games. Instead it kind of feels like late 2023 in a sense…hoping Marte and McLain develop, adding Arroyo to the mix, along with De La Cruz and Steer. Stewart helps the outlook of course.
I’m not sure these are the right moves or not, as a case can be made Arroyo isn’t ready and Marte isn’t the answer in Center Field. I hope Arroyo is given a few weeks to see how he adjusts, but my hunch is he or McLain are not the current best option for this year’s particular team at 2B. I think the better move would be to have Steer be the 2B, and work on figuring out the Outfield.
At this point, maybe play Marte and Arroyo full time and see what happens over the next 2 months going into the trade deadline. I’m not sure there will be more clarity or not by that point as to whether Krall and the Front Office are building a true Contender or the Reds are spinning their wheels in place with seasons of 77-83 win type of teams.
I do give them credit for sending down Friedl. It’ll be interesting to see where his career goes. Hopefully some time off and reset help him a little. I wonder if another team may be interested in Friedl if they think he can regain last year’s hitting ability. He’s been a fun player to watch overall with the Reds, just a pesky solid player overall most of the time.
Curious who you think should be getting the PAs that you think McLain and Arroyo should not be getting. Will Benson? Garrett Hampson? Austin Hendrick? Francisco Urbaez? Kebryan Hayes might be back soon.
Marte need to play. Not play sit play sit. Get plenty of at bats consistently. Hopefully him and Arroyo are the shot in the arm this team needs. get others healthy and it’s a team to be reckoned with.
You call Marte up and don’t start him, someone needs to tell Francona that Marte has reverse splits and not just play him against left-handed pitchers like he did early in the year.
That was baffling. Play him against righthanders, where he’s always been more effective.
Until Elly started playing defense this year, I believe the Reds viewed Arroyo as the SS of the future for this team. He is a VERY smooth fielder. His injury was a major setback to that plan. Now he is here, but they are holding SS for Elly. So for now, Arroyo is the Reds 2B option while McLain fills in at SS. Next season will be more interesting. IF Arroyo can hit MLB pitching, next preseason will see the Reds consider Arroyo at SS and looking at Elly at another position.
Just one word – Finally!
Not too sure about that. The same was said by many after the Rece Hinds call up. Where’s he at now—-Miami?? I remember Marte being sent down for Hinds, hmmmm, that kinda turned out to be a catastrophic disaster. Can’t blame anyone for being skeptical, including myself; I’m going to give it a little time.
Love the lineup!!! Lets go!!
Congratulations to Marte! Here’s hoping he chases less and shows big improvement on OF routes. Hoping he can become an All Star caliber regular for years to come.
They saw Noah Cameron run them over by mercilessly pounding the strike zone, and they said enough of that.
I doubt Marte ever walks much or stops being a groundball hitter, but if he manages to get under enough mistakes to hit 30 HR per 600 PA anyway, who cares? Power and defense are going to determine how good he is in MLB, and those are wide-open questions right now. It sounds like he’s rebuilt his confidence. Let’s see it.
Speaking of Cameron, I hope the pitchers were taking notes. Throwing doesn’t get it done as well as pitching does, unless the two are both present.
Why call up Marte and sit him? He could’ve gotten ABs today and tomorrow for Louisville and be called up for the game on Friday with the Reds having the day off tomorrow. The FO is utterly ridiculous!
I think this is a Francona decision. You kind of wonder what Francona is really thinking. Although, I think kind of rewarding Benson with a start for his big hit last night. Giving Arroyo a day of rest after first 2 big league games so then he’d have 2 full days off I understand, but sometimes i wonder if Francona and the front office are all on the same wavelength.
Exactly, you would think the decision makers would be having conversations with Tito about the transaction and whether he would be in the lineup or not. I understand that Tito makes out the lineup and the FO is not involved, but you gotta know that the player being brought up will be in the lineup or just leave him down in Louisville getting ABs until Tito is ready to let him play. I totally agree that there must be some communication breakdown
Lets wait and see what Francona has to say. Maybe a travel issue, maybe giving Benson a day since he did hit a pitch hit hr lastnight.
I have all the faith in Francona. He knows what he is doing and why
I do too. Let’s hope these callups will light some fire under Benson and MM, knowing they may also be heading to Louisville. You may be right that travel issues or something else may be what kept Marte out of the lineup.
Light a fire? Benson is below .200 in his last 600+ at bats. The dude needs a freaking bomb fire.
Actually, if it doesn’t, it’s ok. I’m ready for the changing of the guards. I believe that he and Friedl will be non tendered this offseason, so if they play out the season at Louisville, I’m good with that.
Same guy that chose Benson > Bleday
alrighty then
“Light a fire? Benson is below .200 in his last 600+ at bats. The dude needs a freaking bomb fire.”
😀
Marte and the rest of the Bats played Tuesday night in Memphis. Made it to Cincinnati for the game, but not soon enough to get the start. Travel factors in as well as AAA game times.
Game in Memphis last night also went 11 innings.
Would have bet the farm last night after he hit the homer that Tito would have him starting tonight. Incredible. All Benson needs to do is homer once a month and he saves his job.
The Reds WILL NOT just play Arroyo or Marte every day regardless of how they perform.Neither will just start hitting and never stopThe Reds aren’t hitting and last night Benson ties it and Dunn wins it so they play tonight.As much as I would like for both to just start the next 50 straight games or so and not worry about what happens it will not happen.The Reds still can’t, don’t and may never consistently hit this year so its day by day match up by match up lineup to try and score some runs.Benson may go on one of his mini 3 or 4 game runs and do well and Dunn still deserves some more chances.This was more about Friedl going down then Marte coming up IMO
I didn’t expect before season began Friedl being option at this point …This season has been abysmal for him…
Were Marte splits also reversed against RHP and LHP at Triple-A?
Benson “The Cat” survives AGAIN. lol I guess his HR last night saved him for a little while longer at least and Friedl, not being able to execute his greatest asset at this point of laying down a bunt doomed him. Whoever plays I just hope they win. That’s all that matters. haha
KBH has the contract. McLain and Benson have the pictures evidently. Didn’t Tito cut Benson loose in Cleveland? Actually I don’t worry about him since he does ride the bench quite a bit. McLain though? I don’t get it?
I think McLain is headed for a utility role once De La Cruz comes back. Getting some games at SS now may keep him sharp if he needs to play there in the future. I think they’ll have to decide whether they want him as a Utility/Bench player, or want to get him regular at bats in Triple A.
I am not sure if Tito was in charge of player personel decisions. A lot of teams leave that to the GM, etc. If he was, was he really wrong to cut Benson? He isn’t great on defense and strikes out too much. Plus he is strictly a platoon.
Not saying this applies to Friedl, but the Padres DFA’d Nick Castellanos today. Wonder how many teams are dumping under-performing players ahead of 2027. If so/if not, what does it mean? Other than, Nick Castellanos is a shell of his former self.
Reds announced Lowder will start on Sunday against the Cardinals. Paddack moves to the bullpen as the long reliever and Maxwell, Mey or McCambley will head back to Louisville when the activation becomes official.
Reds win tonight and they’re back on a streak!
Y. Marte elects FA and will not go back to Louisville
Finally, the Reds have their best OF options. Still not offensive giants but the best they’ve got. Hopefully Marte got right while at Louisville.
Also pulling for Arroyo to make an impression while he has this chance. Give the FO a decision to make when Elly comes back.
If we are looking at best outfield options for the Reds, what about Hector Rodriquez? Got some speed, defense, and some pop. I would assume he could get a chance soon too.
Long Overdue sorry. No McLain please…
On Reds website, Marte explained that one of the things he’s been working on is figuring out HIS pitch and wait for it, then clobber it. It might explain him swinging at less pitches in the zone…because they’ve not been HIS pitch. The approach might also explain the less first strike pitches he’s seeing in AAA…he’s taking them and they’re balls. The approach may not help him in the majors where pitchers are better at getting that first pitch in for a strike. Because he still has an expansive zone, getting behind early will be taken advantage of. Perhaps his reduced ground ball rate will translate, even though it is still higher than league avg.
We will see!
How about sending Matt McClain back to Louisville. Work on his hitting. Maybe package a deal with another club. Friedl and McLain for some quality pitching. Also, Play Benson more.