Reds News: Noelvi Marte benched, Nick Martinez starts, several minor leaguers let go

The Cincinnati Reds endured a tough loss on Sunday. After jumping out to 2-0 lead following back-to-back home runs from Jeimer Candelario and Santiago Espinal, the Reds were outscored 8-0 over the final seven innings of Sunday's game against the San Francisco Giants and are now in last place in the NL Central Division.

A promising season has turned into a nightmare for most Reds fans. Cincinnati was rather inactive at the MLB trade deadline, and staring down a must-win series against San Fran, but the Reds fell apart thanks in large part to some odd lineup choices on the part of David Bell and a horrible performance from the bullpen.

The Reds will be licking their wound on their trip down to South Beach. Perhaps facing the now-rebuilding Miami Marlins will give Bell and his squad a shot in the arm. But will third baseman Noelvi Marte even be in the lineup? And, with a four-man rotation, who will be Reds' skipper turn to on Monday in Miami?

Reds News: Noelvi Marte benched vs. SF Giants

No matter what word Bell wants to use to describe his lineup adjustment in the top of the sixth inning, Reds fans know what they saw. Marte was benched during Sunday's game against the Giants in favor of Joey Wiemer. The Reds third baseman had just struck out for the second time in the game and the 36th time since being activated following his 80-game suspension.

Marte is a paltry 17-for-101 and hitting just .168 since returning to the Reds lineup. Espinal has outplayed Marte in every facet of the game, and it's painfully obvious who the better player is at this moment. Will Marte continue to ride the pine during the Reds' upcoming road trip?

Reds News: Nick Martinez to start vs. Marlins

It's unsurprising that Bell will turn to Nick Martinez as the Reds starter for Monday's contest against the Marlins. However, after appearing in Friday's loss to San Francisco, how many innings will Martinez be able to go?

Jakob Junis will likely see multiple innings on Monday night, and it wouldn't shocking to see Cincinnati make a handful of roster moves to help bolster the bullpen ahead of the upcoming road trip.

Reds News: Conner Capel among Reds MiLB player released

A number of players within the Reds organization were handed their walking papers over the weekend. Among them were Conner Capel and Yan Contreras. Capel had two hits in five games while playing for the Reds earlier this season, and Contreras was a highly-regarded prospect in the Cincinnati farm system at one point during his career.

In addition to Capel and Contreras, the Reds also released Logan Campbell and Nick Nick Payero; both pitchers were part of the Daytona Tortugas roster.

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