ATLANTA — Already mired in a lackluster stretch of run production, the Reds were zinged by attrition to the lineup yet again on Wednesday.
Third baseman Noelvi Marte was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Monday, because of a left oblique strain. Outfielder Rece Hinds was recalled from Triple-A Louisville in a corresponding move.
Marte felt pain in his left side while hitting in the batting cage prior to Tuesday’s game against the Braves. He was a late scratch from the lineup and was examined on Wednesday morning.
It was not immediately known how much time Marte is expected to miss. By comparison, catcher Tyler Stephenson missed the Reds’ first 32 games with an oblique injury he suffered in mid-March during Spring Training.
Over 19 games this season, the 23-year-old Marte posted a .294/.342/.515 slash line with three home runs in 68 at-bats. Most of his production came after his second recall this season from Louisville on April 17.
Last year, after serving an 80-game suspension for steroid use, Marte hit just four homers in 229 at-bats.
Marte joined fellow hitters Austin Hays, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeimer Candelario on the IL. Hays, in particular, was already a big loss. He missed Cincinnati’s first 16 games with a strained left calf and went back on the IL last week because of a left hamstring strain, but he is on track for activation on Friday.
Cincinnati entered Wednesday mired in a four-game losing streak and losses in six of its past eight games. Five of the losses saw the club score one or fewer runs.
Hinds, a second-round Draft pick by the Reds in 2019, took the league by storm once he made his MLB debut last July. He hit five homers and batted .500 through his first six big league games to capture National League Player of the Week honors.
This season at Louisville, the 24-year-old Hinds is batting .281 with an .897 OPS, eight homers and 32 RBIs in 33 games.
