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    Reds MiLB Notebook: Noelvi Marte kicks it into high gear

    Doug Gray 14

    Entering the season, Noelvi Marte was rated as the Cincinnati Reds 3rd best prospect. He was rated as a top 100 prospect by every service and as high as 29th by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball Prospectus. But Marte got out to a slow start to the year with the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts. The 21-year-old hit just .184/.286/.306 in the first two weeks of the season and struck out 15 times in just 56 plate appearances. That’s a strikeout rate of 27%.

    On April 22nd, Marte went 2-5 with a walk, double, and two runs batted in. That kicked off a big time turn around for the infielder. In the 28 games – including that one – since April 22nd he’s hit .321 with seven doubles and seven home runs. He’s also walked 12 times, giving him an on-base percentage of .389. Those extra-base hits have given Marte a .571 slugging percentage in that time, too. About those strikeouts…. well, he’s had just 17 of them in 126 plate appearances since. That’s a strikeout rate of 13.5%.

    On it’s own that would be an impressive run of things. But when we consider that the Double-A level is experimenting with a pre-tacked baseball that has led to higher spin rates across the board, which has led to more strikeouts and less contact for the league – it’s really impressive.

    The last five week run for Noelvi Marte has raised his line on the season to .280/.357/.491. He’s tied for 5th place in the league with eight home runs and just two behind the league leader. His .280 batting average is 8th best in the league (only one player is above .295). He is 9th in the league in slugging percentage and OPS.

    Last year in the Arizona Fall League the Reds had Noelvi Marte play third base. It was his first time at the position as a professional and he had some struggles at times, making six errors in 21 games and posting an .838 fielding percentage. This season he’s been playing both shortstop and third base with Chattanooga. He’s made two errors in 12 games at third base (.929 fielding percentage) and has a .952 fielding percentage at shortstop in 27 games.

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

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    14 Responses

    2. Good to see. But why in the world would baseball pre-tack the ball? Seems like a dumb idea.

        1. Kind of a naive interpretation of human behavior, I’d say. The player likely just adds more. Cheaters will always find a way.

        2. Cheaters always finding their way is not a reason to not try and stop it.

          That said, these balls sound like theyre advantage pitcher. That worries me more than the umpires just having to check them every inning.

    3. I think we’ll see EDLC and Noelvi be promoted in parallel here soon. After the India trade probably

      1. I don’t think they will trade India. He seems to be the leader. I could see Senzel for whatever they can get. Barrero the super utility guy and India back to third. Elly at SS and McLain at 2B. Steer can play 1B/DH/LF. CES can DH/1B. Drop the third C and play Stephenson more behind the plate. Just my two cents.

        1. I’m for keeping India and Senzel now. Barrero just isn’t doing enough to stay. And, yeah, no need of a 3rd C. Especially one that can’t hit

    4. AA players are really coming along. Obviously Marte is the big name, and he’s been killing it. I’m also excited about Free, and Hurtubise’s progress this year.

      Marte .280/.357/.491, 8 HR
      Hurtubise .259/.396/.471, 5 HR (last year1 HR, 0 the year before)
      Free .293/.382/..447 4 HR

      They’re all facing the same tacky ball, and are having great years. Hurtubise’s OPS is over .100 pts higher than his best season, back in 21. Free is no longer playing C, and has raised his OPS .130 points higher than any of his previous 2 seasons.

    5. SOMEBODY from the group of India, McLain, Steer, EDLC, CES and Marte has to move to the OF, right? 4 infield positions plus DH, and the best case scenario starting next year has all 6 of those guys in the lineup most days (figuring Senzel as a multi-position super utility guy, maybe Barrero as well). We know it’s not going to be CES, and not likely at all to be Steer. Hard to move India, the team leader and star, out of the infield (though maybe back to 3b makes sense). For the rest of the season, I think they keep India at 2b, which means McLain at SS and EDLC at 3b when he comes up (CES and Steer rotating at 1b and DH). Friedl, Fraley, and whoever in the OF (with Senzel and Barrero mixing in, especially against LHPs).

      Assuming that Marte will join the Partay next year, why not make the move now, while he has half a season (and spring training) to get used to RF? Easy enough sell to him: here’s the fastest route to the big leagues, otherwise you’re waiting around for somebody to get hurt or traded. He should fit perfectly in RF with good speed and arm strength. Use spring training next year to move India back to 3b and get EDLC ready for a real shot at SS (McLain to 2b in that scenario). I think that’s the best infield defense of that group, and only requires moving one guy to a position he’s never played. EDLC holds down SS until he proves he can’t or Arroyo forces the issue (at which point EDLC to 3b or the OF, but that’s far enough down the road it’s kind of pointless to try to predict). Steer could move between 1b and 3b and DH, maybe even some occasional starts at 2b to spell McLain (and EDLC, with McLain playing SS). Fraley/Senzel in LF, Friedl/Barrero in CF, Marte in RF (with somebody like Fairchild or Benson or Hopkins in support as 13th man. Stephenson catches only, backed up by Chuckie I guess. That seems to me like the roster for next season and beyond, starting with whenever Marte is deemed ready.

      1. I mean someone from that group could be traded, so no, no one technically has to move to the outfield.

      2. I keep Marte learning a skilled position like SS and 3B, not a position he could likely learn in one spring training with his athleticism.

    6. Agree one of these could be traded for either a LH hitting OF or pitching. Outside of Dela Cruz they are all right handed bats. You want to add a LH bay to have more balance in your lineup.. Or does the Reds ownership group open the purse strings in off season to sign a Free Agent LH OF from MLB, Korea or Japan…

      1. India has reverse splits; Steer and McLain have traditional splits, but still hit RHP well. Essentially, India brings the balance of a LH hitter.

    7. I’d like to see Casali offered a coaching position. He could teach/coach pitchers as well as catchers. He could have another 30 years in the game and I bet ascend to managing one day! If a catching injury occurrs he could be reinstated to resolve the crunch, but Chucky is available too and hitting great this year. There are too many guys ready for the roster to go with 3 catchers.

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