Héctor Rodríguez sits against Marlins on Friday

Cincinnati failed to resolve their crowded outfield situation at the trade deadline earlier this week, but made the decision to promote Rodríguez anyway. The dynamic 22-year-old went 0-for-2 with a walk and scored a run against the Athletics in his big-league debut on Tuesday night. He possesses a fantasy-relevant skillset and is worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues. The big question is whether he’s able to carve out an everyday role over the next few weeks with JJ Bleday, Noelvi Marte, Dane Myers and TJ Friedl still in the mix.

This move was reported yesterday and is now official. We like Rodríguez, but are surprised by this decision since the Reds didn’t actually trade away an outfielder at the deadline. We assume Rodríguez will play nearly every day between outfield and DH, and the DH spot could be used as a rotation for the extra outfielders. The 22-year-old is an aggressive hitter, and his 42 percent hard-hit rate and 89.2 mph average exit velocity don’t suggest tons of power, but he is hitting .274/.347/.533 with 27 round-trippers and six steals in 455 plate appearances for Triple-A Louisville. He’s worth a flyer in most fantasy formats.

Rodríguez is one of the more electrifying talents in the Reds’ system and will get his first opportunity at the highest level after hitting .274/.347/.533 with 27 round-trippers and six steals in 455 plate appearances for Triple-A Louisville. The 22-year-old outfielder is worthy of a speculative pickup in deeper mixed leagues based on his over-the-fence power upside. He figures to play everyday for Cincinnati over the final two months.

At this point, it’s pretty clear that Friedl has been supplanted by Noelvi Marte in the team’s starting lineup, as Friedl has started just once in the team’s last six games despite facing five right-handers during that stretch. It’s Marte in right field once again and batting eighth for the Reds on Friday evening against Pirates’ ace Paul Skenes.

Rodríguez now has 25 home runs on the season to go along with a .272 average, 63 RBI, and an .876 OPS. He’s an aggressive hitter, but he’s swinging outside of the zone less than he did last year and has reduced his swinging strike rate to a league-average mark. He also continues to make league-average contact while driving the ball over the fence. We should note that his 42 percent hard-hit rate and 89.2 mph average exit velocity don’t suggest tons of power, but he makes the most of his contact with his approach, and playing his home games in Great American Ballpark will help. We’d imagine he’s up after the August 14th cutoff to retain his rookie eligibility for 2027.

Marte had one nice liner tonight, but it was caught in center. He’s just not making very good contact for the most part, with a 27.6 percent hard-hit rate that’s down from 38 percent for his career. Given that the Reds didn’t seem to think much of him even at the start of the season, when there was more reason for optimism, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him traded at the deadline, even if he’s probably not someone contenders would pursue.

Steer receives a breather after being hit by a pitch in the ribs during Monday’s contest. It doesn’t sound like a significant concern. It’ll be Noelvi Marte taking over in right field. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day heading into Wednesday’s series finale in Seattle.

Rodríguez now has 24 home runs and 61 RBI to go along with a .280 batting average and .902 OPS. The Reds are one of the few teams that should clearly be sellers at the deadline, so there is a chance they free up some outfield at-bats for Rodríguez to get called up in just a couple of weeks. He’s just behind guys like Joshua Baez and Walker Jenkins in terms of fantasy stashes.

The 22-year-old is now hitting .290/.369/.549 with 21 home runs, 56 RBI, and six steals in 84 games at Triple-A. He also has a solid 75/40 K/BB ratio. He’s played both corner outfield spots regularly this season, but it seems unlikely that he gets a chance in Cincinnati this year unless the team decides to move on from slumping JJ Bleday.

Marte broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the eighth inning when he took Pirates reliever Mason Montgomery deep for a two-run homer. It was the fourth homer of the season for Marte, with all of his homers coming this month. Marte has been a different player since being recalled by the Reds earlier this month. He’s slashing respectable .250/.316/.558 on the month with eight of his 13 hits going for extra bases. Marte continues to be a player worth rostering in all formats where available.