The Cincinnati Reds showed last season that they are quickly emerging as one of the young contenders in the National League. But unfortunately, they received some horrible news on Friday regarding the top prospect in their farm system that was expected to potentially be an opening day starter for them.
22-year-old infielder Noelvi Marte ranks as the No. 1 prospect in the Reds farm system, and the No. 21 overall prospect on MLB.com’s top 100 rankings.
Most expected Marte to take over the responsibilities of the everyday third baseman job this season. But the team will need to wait quite some time for that plan to come to fruition, as he was issued a suspension on Friday.
MLB Pipeline reporter Sam Dykstra broke the news on Friday that Marte has been issued an 80-game suspension after testing positive for Boldenone, a banned substance according to the MLB’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
BREAKING: Reds prospect Noelvi Marte has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for Boldenone.
— Sam Dykstra (@SamDykstraMiLB) March 8, 2024
Naturally, fans had plenty to say about the situation on social media.
Wow…
No words. Really, really, really ugly for the Reds.
Expect & demand way more out of players. Ugly situation. https://t.co/1napteIc1K
— Nati Sports (@Nati_Sports) March 8, 2024
I’m no baseball expert, but I’m pretty sure this stinks. https://t.co/ixbOBvObWx
— Drew Garrison (@DrewGarrison) March 8, 2024
Such a poor decision by Marte.
Luckily the Reds decided to buy into Jonathan India (as they should have) and didn't trade.
2B: India
SS: McLain
3B: De La Cruz https://t.co/Q59xz5FyOy— Cole Sullivan (@Colesu11y) March 8, 2024
Well, that’s one way to solve the surplus of Reds infielders https://t.co/MReYE0UFRU
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) March 8, 2024
This is big. Going to definitely hurt the Reds https://t.co/Tn09GDZAgB
— Crawly's Cubs Kingdom (@crawlyscubs) March 8, 2024
For Marte, it is obviously an extremely poor decision that could impact his development. Who knows whether the starting third base job will still be up for grabs once he is able to return from this suspension midway through the 2024 season.
As many fans mentioned above, it may not be the worst loss for the Reds. Marte is still obviously unproven at the MLB level, and the Reds luckily have a ton of depth in their middle infield that can pick up the slack that Marte’s absence brings.
Only time will tell how much this impacts the Reds once the regular season starts. But this is obviously something that you don’t want to see if you are a Reds fan.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.