Reds activate Noelvi Marte, Graham Ashcraft before series opener in Philadelphia

The band’s getting back together!

The sample size was admittedly small, but Noelvi Marte was one of the best hitters on the Cincinnati Reds during the early portion of the 2025 Major League Baseball season.

Marte, 23, posted a 128 OPS+ across 19 games with the club during April and early May, but an oblique injury shut him down for nearly two months. He began to work his way back to health with AA Chattanooga in late June, and after a recent stint rehabbing with AAA Louisville, he’s now back and active withe the big league Reds.

Cincinnati announced his activation along with that of reliever Graham Ashcraft on Friday morning prior to the start of their weekend series against the Phillies in Philadelphia. RHP Sam Benschoter and utilityman extraordinaire Ryan Vilade were optioned back to AAA Louisville to clear room on the active roster.

The Reds have Marte in the lineup for Friday’s afternoon contest against the Phils, batting 7th and playing 3B against LHP Jesus Luzardo.

With Marte and Ashcraft now back in the fold, the Reds are just about as healthy as they’ve been all season, especially with Hunter Greene having thrown a live BP session last weekend and getting ever closer to his return. That’s a very good development, albeit a complicated one as manager Terry Francona now is tasked with juggling which still-developing bats get to play each and every day.

(For instance, Christian Encarnacion-Strand is on the bench to start this one despite his big dinger in his last game and despite him being a righty with a LHP starter on the mound.)

Welcome back, Noelvi and Doug!