SAN FRANCISCO -- The Reds placed infielder Matt McLain on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a slight left hamstring strain.
Right-hander Carson Spiers was optioned to Triple-A Louisville, with those two moves facilitating the callups of outfielder Will Benson and infielder Noelvi Marte from Louisville.
McLain had been absent from the Reds¡¯ four previous starting lineups, including over the weekend in Milwaukee and the series opener in San Francisco on Monday before landing on the IL.
Neither Benson nor Marte made it into Tuesday¡¯s game, a 1-0 victory for the Reds powered by six scoreless innings from Nick Lodolo that secured their first series win of 2025.
There was a chance McLain would have started in the opener, as he was out testing his hamstring doing slight running drills in the outfield grass. But he ultimately was held out and did not appear in the game.
¡°Well, he's got a minor hamstring issue,¡± said manager Terry Francona. "So rather than try to milk it through ... he can come back next Tuesday, and the hope is that he can come back and be himself. There's just so much baseball left to play that just didn't seem like it made a lot of sense to try to push through this right now.¡±
McLain, 25, has a slash line of .214/.290/.571 with three home runs and five RBIs in eight games this season, after missing all of 2024 due to left shoulder surgery.
As for Spiers, he won Cincinnati¡¯s fifth starter job out of Spring Training and was expected to be optioned when Andrew Abbott returned from the injured list.
The callups of Benson and Marte give the Reds a bit of flexibility as they play this series in San Francisco before returning home to Great American Ball Park to host the Pirates and Mariners.
Benson, 26, provides a boost at all three outfield positions. In 2024, he hit 14 homers in 128 games for the Reds (118 appearances in the outfield).
Marte, 23, played in 66 Major League games a year ago, slashing .210/.248/.301 and playing 55 games at third base.
He didn¡¯t make the Reds out of Spring Training this year, though, and returns to the club having learned a bit about himself in the process.
¡°I knew it was going to happen,¡± said Marte through an interpreter. ¡°And actually I think it was the best thing to happen to me in my career, because I needed to set the ground, go back there and realize that I need to get back and do what I do.¡±
Marte said he has returned with a fire to prove he has what it takes to stick in the Majors. He was asked what he would tell the version of himself from a year ago.
¡°I think the Noelvi that always draws from his God-given talent, and I think that¡¯s the reason why I¡¯m here today,¡± he said.
As for what role Benson and Marte can play for the Reds in the days ahead, Francona noted that each was hitting well in the Minors. (Benson had a .341 batting average through nine games with Louisville, and Marte hit .353 in that same span.)
¡°I don¡¯t know what we¡¯ll do [Wednesday] with the day game,¡± Francona said, ¡°but I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll get in a game or two. They¡¯ll play here and, hopefully, help us win a couple games.¡±