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Dateline: 318 kilometers from the Gulf of Mexico
The battle for third base became a little clearer on March 10.
Noelvi Marte was optioned to Louisville along with Rece Hinds, Connor Phillips, Tyler Callihan and Yosver Zulueta. Sal Stewart, a non-roster player was reassigned to minor league camp. It will be determined where he starts the season.
Marte was in the hunt for third base but now it is a four-way race with Gavin Lux, Jeimer Candelario, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Santiago Espinal. All can play other positions. Candelario and Encarncion-Strand have been playing first base. Lux has played second base and will play in the outfield. Espinal played shortstop and second base in the Cactus League.
“We talked to everybody,” Francona said. “I’d say at length. Which is good. The last thing we want to do is say, hey thanks for the effort to get out of here. We also ask the guys to talk too, about what they’re feeling and want to accomplish. He did a really good job.”
“I think sometimes, they get sent to the other side and think oh, God, I’m getting cut. We love these guys. We want them to go get ready to help us win. He (Marte) needs repetition. I think from a work ethic standpoint he had a great camp. I don’t care what his batting average is. He worked his ass off. He came here in good shape. He needs to go play. He doesn’t need to take a bus ride and get an at bat. That’s not going to help him get ready. We told him to knock the door down. That’s the best way. He was good, he looked us in the eye.
Francona always reminds young players to enjoy the process. They want to be in the big leagues but he wants them to enjoy their time just playing baseball.
Conner Phillips had a horrible regular season in 2024 but pitched well in the Arizona Fall League.
According to Francona, he needs to be more consistent.
“We saw, when he’s good it’s electric,” Francona said. “We kind of challenged him, ok, when it’s not your A stuff, where do you take it. Can you find a way to put up that zero? When it’s good, It’s wipeout stuff. So it’s consistency. He told us that too. There’s a lot to like. That’s a big arm.”
Stewart showed that has the potential to be a good major league hitter, impressing Francona.
“He is a very advanced hitter,” Francona said. “I told you guys one day after a game, I don’t know when it is but he is going to be a good major league hitter. I firmly believe that. There’s nothing wrong with this, he’s still learning. He missed time with the hand last year, the wrist. He’s a good looking hitter. He goes line-to-line which you don’t see a lot of strong right handed hitters do when they’re young. They’ll reach for power. He’s learning how to hit and he’ll grow into whatever power he shows.”
“I think he moves better defensively than he looks or people perceive. He has some arm strength. He can play second.”
“I told him go enjoy seeing how good you can get. I think sometimes they want to get here so bad, they miss what’s right in front of them. We don’t want them to do that. We reminded him that you’re not going to get hits every game. So when you’re not, how are you going to help your team win? That’s important, especially the higher you get.”
Jeimer Candelario had a wisdom tooth pulled. The Reds slow walked him for a couple of days.
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