It hasn’t even been a month since Terry Francona was named the Manager of the Cincinnati Reds, but he’s making a big impact early in terms of leadership and proving to people his health is far better than reported. This time, he’s traveling to the Dominican Republic to meet up with 3 very important Cincinnati Reds.
Jeimer Candelario, Noelvi Marte, & Elly De La Cruz
Candy, Noelvi, & Elly were all present for a little Tito in person meeting, per the Cincinnati Reds X account. As a Reds fan, I find this incredible. Seeing him display acts of leadership and to connect in the offseason, early, especially in a whole other country is sick. All 3 of these guys speak English so I can only imagine what the chatter was about.
Dominican Winter League
Elly De La Cruz & Jeimer Candelario have played the Dominican Winter League the last few years, and that league is getting ready to start back up (they’ve already played 3 games,) in November. They will play these dates: 1, 6, 13, 17, 22, 26, 30 & for December: 4, 8, 14, 20, 22.
The Reds are typically in control of if they’ll allow their players to play in the DWL or not, and as of 10/29/24 at 10:30AM ET, they have not confirmed if Elly will play in that league or not. He last played in it in ’22. Jeimer Candelario is notorious for playing in it, as well, and one would expect with him being injured with the fractured toe, if he’s all healed up, he’ll play in the league as well, if asked.
Noelvi Marte’s Disappointing 2024
With Noelvi’s disappointing 2024, it’d be a good idea to get him some Dominican Winter League reps if a team would allow his participation. He & Jeimer both struggled a whole lot in 2024 and are both really important deposits that the Reds are counting on. His participation has also not been confirmed & the DoWL is typically a draft, not an invite league, so we’ll have to see what happens on that front.
