Reds Promote Noelvi Marte Amid Matt McLain Injury: Fantasy Baseball Impact

The Reds place Matt McLain on the IL and call up prospect Noelvi Marte, whose upside makes him a potential fantasy stash despite a shaky major league track record.

Cincinnati Reds infielder Noelvi Marte (16) at bat in the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

The Reds placed Matt McLain on the injured list last night after being out of the starting lineup since last Friday with a hamstring issue. Officially, he’s been on the sidelines for three days, giving him a chance to return on April 17th against Seattle at home.

Matt McLain lands on Reds IL after all with hamstring injury. RHP Carson Spiers optioned to AAA (in anticipation of Abbott activation).

Will Benson, Noelvi Marte back in big leagues. Both recalled from Lousville.

— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubMLB) April 8, 2025

Cincinnati replaced him on the roster with Noelvi Marte, a high-touted prospect who played well over his first nine games at AAA (12-for-34 with six runs, five RBIs, and three stolen bases). Over this span, he took four walks while striking out six times. The Reds played him at 2B (3), 3B (8), and SS (2) this season in the minors, but Marte only has a third base qualification to open 2025 in most fantasy formats.

In 2024, Cinci gave him 66 games of experience in the big leagues, but his results were disappointing (.210/24/4/18/9 over 229 at-bats) due to a massive strikeout rate (30.1). His AAA season started with an 80-game PED suspension.

The Mariners signed Marte out of the Dominican Republic at age 17 in 2019. Over his six seasons in the minors, he hit .279 with 299 runs, 56 home runs, 245 RBIs, and 86 steals over 1,589 at-bats. His walk rate (10.7) was an asset in most years while offering a better-than-league-average strikeout rate (20.3). 

Cincinnati started him at AA in 2023, where his bat offered steady production (.281/37/8/25/10 over 186 at-bats). His promotion to AAA led to similar results (.280 with 31 runs, 20 RBIs, and eight steals) except home runs (3). He finished with an improved approach (strikeout rate – 17.5 and walk rate – 10.8).

Marte brings pedigree and upside, but he only has 230 at-bats of experience at AAA (.261 with 40 runs, three home runs, 27 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases). By pairing that with his struggles over failure so far in the majors (.245/39/7/33/15 over 343 at-bats), he will be an easy player to dismiss, especially with a short window to prove his worth for Cincinnati.

Marte makes sense in the NL-only fantasy market to add based on his talent alone. He is a must-follow as a possible buy-and-hold in deep formats while 10 and 12-team leagues wait for him to prove his worth on the field.

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