Reds seem close to defeat with big prize from Luis Castillo trade with Mariners

Truth be told, these are dark days for former Mariners super-prospects. Jarred Kelenic may be on the verge of crashing out of affiliated ball, and now Noelvi Marte is out of an everyday job in Cincinnati.

As our pals over at Blog Red Machine covered, the approach the Reds have taken to Marte's playing time this season doesn't exactly set him up for success. The righty swinger is in a right field platoon with the lefty swinging Will Benson, and this is even though Marte only has a .566 OPS against lefties for his career.

At a certain point, though, it is on Marte to earn his keep by taking advantage of what opportunities he does get. And to this end, his 3-for-20 showing this year is merely the latest variation on a theme. Through 747 major league plate appearances, he's a .251 hitter with a .685 OPS.

Noelvi Marte is back to letting the Reds down 4 years after Luis Castillo trade

Four years ago, Marte's inclusion in the trade that sent Luis Castillo to Seattle is what made the deal a big risk for the Mariners. He had begun that year as MLB Pipeline's No. 11 prospect, and the Mariners' No. 2 prospect behind the eventual AL Rookie of the Year, Julio Rodríguez.

Marte had a promising debut in 2023, but set himself back with an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs the following March. He seemed on the verge of turning things around last May, though, and he was even hitting .300 with an .856 OPS as late as August 24.

Since then? He's a .187 hitter with 49 strikeouts and just eight walks over 37 games.

It's true that reduced playing time this year isn't doing him any favors, but it's also not as if his alleged breakout last year portended even greater things to come. His under-the-hood metrics were largely "meh."

Given all this, there actually is ample reason for Reds fans to panic about Marte despite the small sample size. And since he has two minor league options left, the best thing for him might be a trip to Triple-A Louisville for regular at-bats.

For the Mariners' part, this is to say that the Castillo trade is back to looking firmly in the win column for Jerry Dipoto and company. He's 33 years old now and no longer the team's ace, yet he was exactly that through at least the end of the 2023 season, and he remains a reliable source of innings — and don't look now, but his average fastball velocity is up over last April.

Marte is still only 24 years old, so it's way too soon to write him off as a potential impact player in MLB. But at this point, you really do wonder if it's ever going to be in Cincinnati.