Just over a year ago Noelvi Marte injured his hamstring while playing winter league baseball in the Dominican Republic. He was playing in just his 4th game when it happened and he didn’t return to the field until spring training. Shortly after spring training began, Marte tested positive for a PED and faced an 80-game suspension, costing him half of the season. When he returned from the suspension he struggled to get going.
Tuesday night saw Marte get back on the field for the first time since the season came to an end. Things didn’t go as he would have hoped – he was ejected after his third at-bat of the game. He didn’t like the called second strike of the at-bat and requested time, and it was granted. Apparently he took too much time getting back in the box and the umpire gave him an automatic strike, which turned out to be strike three. Marte argued and was tossed. Wednesday night saw him go 0-4, making him 0-7 with a walk through the first two games in the Dominican Winter League. On Thursday night, though, he made his presence known for the Gigantes Del Cibao. After walking in his first trip to the plate, he hit a 2-run homer to cap off a 6-run inning for his club as they put the game away early.
Noelvi Marte pa’ la calle ??? ? #ElPoderDelCacao pic.twitter.com/f65EQDcTr2
— Gigantes del Cibao ® (@Gigantes_Cibao) November 15, 2024
Later on in the game, Marte added a single in what turned out to be his final at-bat of the night. He finished 2-2 with a walk. The home run he hit was the first of his career while playing in the Dominican Winter League. His action there has been limited, playing in six games back in 2021 and then just four more last year (in 2022 he played in the Arizona Fall League and did not play in the Dominican Winter League.
Arizona Fall League
While Marte is just getting his winter league season started, the Reds players in the Arizona Fall League saw their season end on Thursday evening as Glendale completed the regular season and the loss kept them from making the playoffs.
Matt McLain capped off what was essentially a rehab assignment with a good day at the plate, going 3-5 with a steal, run scored, and three runs batted in. Prospect Tyler Callihan also turned in a big performance on what turned out to be the last day of the season. He went 2-4 with a walk, two doubles, and two runs scored. Connor Phillips took the mound for a final time, allowing a run in 2.0 innings while walking two batters and striking out four.
Here’s how everyone in the league from the organization performed:
The Hitters
The Pitchers
The standout from the group is relief pitcher Luis Mey. He went 6-for-6 in save opportunities, allowed just one hit in 8.2 innings, and didn’t give up a run. Not every ballpark in the league has pitch tracking, but I believe four of the six do. Mey threw the 34 fastest pitches that were tracked in the league, including all 30 pitches that reached 100.0 MPH – topping out at 101.8 (he’s hit 103 in his career). Expect to see him added to the 40-man roster in the next week as the clubs around baseball have to make their Rule 5 draft protections and this year Mey would be eligible to be taken if left off of the roster.
With both Matt McLain and Christian Encarnacion-Strand there’s some good and some bad mixed in there. McLain showed off good power, but he also struck out a ton. Encarnacion-Strand picked up hits at a high rate, but he also didn’t play much and didn’t hit for any power (though he was hitting the ball hard in the games where there was ball tracking information). What’s most important, especially for those two, was simply making it through the league with their health and getting to see live pitching again for the first time since May and March.
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