Photo: Doug Gray
On Monday the Cincinnati Reds general manager Brad Meador and president of baseball operations Nick Krall met with the media to discuss the season and the offseason ahead of them. The biggest part of that was news that the entire coaching staff would be returning for the 2026 season. We wrote about that here when it was announced if you wanted to get more information. One piece of information worth noting though that may have been overlooked on a day in which a lot of things were discussed was that Noelvi Marte would play in the Dominican Winter League this offseason, which was first reported by Mike Petraglia of ESPN 1530 in Cincinnati.
This can work for and against a player. And we can see that directly with Marte, too. Two years ago the then infielder was playing for the Gigantes in the Dominican Winter League when he injured his hamstring in his 4th game. While trying to recover from that injury he took something to try and help with that and it turned out to be a banned substance and was suspended for 80 games of the 2024 season as a result. When he returned to the field he struggled to get his bat going and had a terrible season.
In 2025 he was able to get back in the swing of things and crushed the ball in Triple-A for a few weeks before joining the Reds. For much of the season with the big league club he hit well, but a late-season slump dropped his line to .263/.300/.448 on the year in his 90 games with Cincinnati.
During his time in Cincinnati he saw the club move him from third base where he was having some struggles with his defense and into the outfield. Athletic and with a strong arm, the long term outlook with his defense is promising. Early on he showed off the arm strength, but he also showed a lack of experience, too. As he got more playing time you could see the improvements but he still looks like a player who is new to the outfield at times. Now he’s going to get more experience at the position in the winter league.
The Dominican Winter League (LIDOM – Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana) will begin on October 15th. The regular season consists of 50 games. Four of the six teams in the league make the playoffs and play an 18-game round robin with the top two teams then playing a best of seven series for the championship. The winner of that series then advances to the Caribbean Series.
Last offseason, Marte played in 27 games in the league. He joined the league about a month in and played through the regular season, but not the playoffs as his team did not qualify. It was not stated as to when he would begin playing in the league this year. Usually more established players – guys who are in the big leagues – don’t play from the very start of the year and join their team at some point after the season starts. We’ll be sure to keep you updated throughout the winter when players from the organization are playing in winter ball.
Speaking of winter ball, the Arizona Fall League began on Monday night. Cincinnati has eight players in the league this year. Five of those guys played in the first game, including top 15 prospects Cam Collier and Leo Balcazar who each played a role in their team’s win. Over at RedsMinorLeagues.com we covered the performances of the Reds players from the game.
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