Reds just sent Noelvi Marte down, but he shouldn't go alone

Noelvi Marte's time on the Cincinnati Reds active roster quickly came to an end. The outfielder had been struggling mightily to begin the season, and on Monday the Reds announced he'd been optioned back to Triple-A Louisville following Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Angels.

But Marte isn't the only under-performer who should be packing his bags for Louisville this week. Fellow outfielder Will Benson could (and should) be optioned to the minor leagues as well, and the Reds have two hot hitters at Triple-A that should receive a phone call in the near future.

Rece Hinds and JJ Bleday should be recalled to the Reds roster

Rece Hinds made his case to be part of the Reds Opening Day roster during spring training, but Cincinnati's coaching staff decided on Marte instead. All Hinds has done through the first two weeks of the minor league season is hit .354 with a 1.246 OPS while clobbering five home runs. He should be on his way to Cincinnati already, and according to Cincinnati reporter Charlie Goldsmith, he is.

But Hinds' performance has overshadowed what his Louisville Bats' teammate JJ Bleday has done during his time in the minors. The former Athletics outfielder has gone 16-for-53 (.302) in 13 games with the Bats this season and has two home runs and nine RBI. His .922 OPS is second on the team behind only Hinds and Michael Chavis.

Hinds and Bleday have the ability to play all over the outfield, though they're probably both best suited for the corners. Hinds has split time in both right field and center during the minor-league season, while Bleday has four starts in right field and six in left.

Marte was off to a horrific start. He was 4-for-29 (.138) with 10 strikeouts and had yet to record an extra-base hit. Benson, who's been down this road before, is hitting just 5-for-28 (.179) and has also struck out 10 times this season.

It's early, and certainly not time to panic, but Cincinnati needs to inject some life into the lineup, and the duo of Hinds and Bleday can do just that. On the flip side, sending Marte and Benson back to Triple-A would give them both routine playing time in the outfield and regular at-bats — something it seems like they desperately need.