Cincinnati Reds Hotshot Prospect Still Battling Effects of Injury as Spring Training Gets Set to Begin

Cincinnati Reds' prospect Noelvi Marte suffered a hamstring injury in winter ball and is still battling the effects of that injury heading into spring training.

The following report comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal, but links to a subscription-required post from Reds' reporter Charlie Goldsmith:

Marte is not yet running at full speed after suffering a hamstring strain in late November in the Dominican Winter League, Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

ANALYSIS
It sounds like Marte is recovered from his injury, but the Reds are having him ramp things up slowly in camp to be safe. The 22-year-old played a bit at shortstop and second base in addition to third base last season with the Reds, but he'll focus mainly on the hot corner this spring as he attempts to win that job. Marte slashed an impressive .316/.366/.456 in 35 contests for Cincinnati in 2023.

It's good to know that he seems recovered, but it's always a little troublesome when you hear that someone isn't quite ready by the team camp starts, especially when the injury was more than two full months ago.

Marte is a huge part of what the Reds are doing in 2024, as he's one of several top prospects and young position players that will be counted on. He joins Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer in that category.

Because he hasn't played enough games yet to graduate out of it, he is still the organization's No. 1 overall prospect in 2024.

Per his prospect profile from MLB.com:

There are few prospects with more raw power than Marte, and he’s continuing to learn how to tap into it, with 36 homers over the last two seasons. It shows up more to his pull side as he’s good at barreling the ball out front. He draws walks and keeps his strikeouts to a minimum but can still improve on swing decisions and overall consistency in following his gameplan, though it should be noted he’s always been quite young for his level.

The Reds finished 82-80 in 2023 and were third in the National League Central.