The 2023 season was one that Noelvi Marte will not soon forget. After starting the 2023 season in Double-A and taking on a new position, he worked his way up to Triple-A and then he made his big league debut late in the season with the Reds.
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Cincinnati sent Noelvi Marte to Chattanooga to begin his 2023 season.He got out to a slow start, hitting .186 in the first 15 games of the season with the Lookouts. Marte then had hits in 12 of his next 13 games, hitting .400 with four homers and just six strikeouts. After going 0-6 in a doubleheader on May 13th, Marte hit .329 over the next three weeks, but then found himself on the injured list. After a short rehab stint in Arizona, Marte returned to the Lookouts after missing a little less than three weeks. He stayed there for three games before moving up to Triple-A Louisville.
The first month with the Bats went as well as one could hope. In 23 games, Marte hit .326/.388/.539. After splitting time between third base and shortstop while in Chattanooga, Marte was exclusively playing third base with Louisville during this time. When August rolled around he went into a big slump during the fist week, going 1-20 while walking six times. He picked things up from there, getting a hit in eight of the next nine games.
After that 9th game he was called up to join the Reds. Over the final six weeks of the season he did nothing but hit. Marte would play in 35 games down the stretch and hit .316/.366/.456 in his big league debut while crushing three homers and adding in seven doubles.
For all 2023 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Noelvi Marte Scouting Report
Position: Third Base/ Shortstop | B/T: R/R
Height: 6′ 0″ | Weight: 216 lbs. | Acquired: Trade (Mariners, 2022), International FA (2018) | Born: October 16, 2001
Hitting | An average tool that could be above-average down the road. He can and does use the entire field and he does so very well.
Power | He has average game-power today, but has plus raw power that he could tap into in the future. Currently most of his power is to his pull side.
Speed | He shows plus speed.
Defense | He’s a below-average defender at shortstop, though he’s currently capable of playing there at the big league level. At third base he’s still figuring things out, but he’s got the arm and glove to be a good defender there.
Arm | He has an average to above-average arm.
There doesn’t seem to be much of a weakness in the game for Noelvi Marte. He’s at least average at everything and he’s better than average at a few things. At the plate he’s got a chance to hit for both average and for power. And he’s got a good understanding of the strikezone, too, which could lead to a strong on-base percentage. On the bases he’s a smart runner and while he doesn’t steal a ton of bases he’s got 20-steal potential, perhaps a little more under the new rules.
Defensively he’s only in his sort-of second season at third base, as he moved to the position in the Arizona Fall League during fall of 2022. He’s improved quite a bit in that time frame. There’s still some work to do to clean up little things here and there, as well as eliminating a few errors – he posted a fielding percentage at third in 2023 of .925. Still, all of the pieces are there for him to be a good defender there in the long run with a little more experience.
Marte is ready to help in the big leagues right now. That isn’t a surprise because he hit .316 in over 100 plate appearances with the Reds at the end of 2023. There’s next to no risk in his profile – he’s a big leaguer. The questions are more about whether he can reach his ceiling, and how quickly he can do that if it’s the case.
Video
Noelvi Marte Spray Chart
(Minor League data only)
Interesting Stat on Noelvi Marte
While he had 142 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers in 2023, Marte hit just one homer against lefties during the season (MLB and MiLB).
He’s deadly when he gets the ball up and over the infield. .700 BA to LF is insane.
It’s a good number on pulled baseballs, but it’s not THAT crazy, either. A few guys in the top 25 were over .800 to their pull side.
That Marte’s AA to AAA to ML season occurred at age 22 is very impressive.
He has an excellent approach at the plate. As his defense and power improve, he has star potential. He has an outstanding opportunity to compete for the NL ROY in 2024.
All I saw from Marte’s first game this year at AA to the end of the year was one, true professional at bat after another. Imagine what he does as he fills out and settles in at 3B and GABP.
This has been a very, very good trade for both clubs. Luis is adored in Seattle, and Marte has the world in front of him. Arroyo is well on his way and I still believe in Stoudt — I often go back to his scouting report at the time of the trade stating he’d require 1-2 years to develop. And, getting a few seasons out of Moore may be ice cream for dessert.
How does Marte compared to the last 5 #1 prospects when looking at Future Value and their current state of performance? or another way of stating it, does Marte have a higher future value than Hunter Greene did when he was number 1 between 2019-2021 and Nick Senzel did between 2016-2018?
Marte is behind all of those guys, who were all Top 10 in baseball prospects.
IIRC EDLC shot into the top 5 in all prospects, but wasn’t Marte top 20 when in the Mariners system? I follow them a bit, and recall comments that he was extremely advanced for his age, then 18-19, but some thought he would tail off as the others caught up to him. If he’s still prospect eligible for the spring training lists, will he be top 10?
Simply going by the Baseball America list – he peaked at #18 prior to the 2022 season. He entered the 2023 season at #63. As of September 12th – the most recent update to the BA list, he was at #46. I don’t believe that a few additional players graduating from the list, and his play over three weeks is going to move him up all that much.
Marte did rank higher on some other lists, but I tend to put more faith in the BA lists because they are consistently done by the same group of people for long periods of time and thus give more reliable data in terms of “can we trust this” versus other places who tend to have new people involved in the rankings year over year.
Thanks Doug for the response. I find it interesting to compare from years pasts to get an idea where the player is at. Would you say in pervious years, Marte would still be a top 5 Reds prospect?
Absolutely he would be.
Marte might be the Reds’ best trade chip right now. Honestly, he’s not essentially to 2024’s team. I realize they’re in a near unprecedented penny pinching mode, but keeping India while his value is low and playing him at third base would be smart, and they have EDLC and McLain up the middle.
By the time India’s truly too expensive/has rebuilt his value to where it was during his ROY days, the club will have a better idea what they have in Arroyo, Kiser, and one or two of the other current sub-AA level guys.
I very much hope Krall and co. do not share this opinion. I fail to see how a 22 year old that has shown (in limted at bats) that he can hit at the major league level is not essential to the Reds in 2024 and beyond. This is the window everyone has been preaching about during this latest rebuild and your plan would be to trade away a major asset who has to be seen as a front runner for NLROY. I dont think India will ever rebuild his value to his ROY year, he is a nice player with flaws to his game (this doesn’t mean I am all in on trading him). Further, I don’t know where it is stated that the Reds in 2024 are in an unprecedented penny pinching mode, I certainly hope they are not.
“I fail to see how a 22 year old that has shown (in limted at bats) that he can hit at the major league level is not essential to the Reds in 2024 and beyond.” Because there are more players like him on the roster than there are places for them to play. Also, as you said, he’s had limited at bats, so far.
“Further, I don’t know where it is stated that the Reds in 2024 are in an unprecedented penny pinching mode, I certainly hope they are not.” The Reds famously gave away very valuable players that also had trade value rather than risk having to pay them a relative pittance to keep them long enough to find a trade. Wade Miley is the most famous example. Until the Reds do something to clearly demonstrate that is no longer their SOP, there is no reason to assume they’re no longer pinching pennies.
One of the things I’ve noticed over the last several seasons is that teams are very reluctant to trade a player like Marte–one who was well thought of as a prospect and had a strong initial showing in the Majors. He will be 22 years old next season, and his ceiling is very high, potential multi-year all-star. To move Marte, the Reds would want a king’s ransom as they want to be compensated like Marte will reach his very high ceiling. Trade partners will likely be unwilling to accept those terms because there’s still a lot of risk. This is why trades involving players like Marte are infrequent.
The other side of what you are suggesting is that India will bounce back. I believe he will, as his foot injuries likely affected much of his 2023 performance. However, we may have seen his ceiling- he is a strong-performing starter but limited defensively. I don’t see him as a multi-year all-star. India is a more known quantity. I don’t think other teams are waiting to see him rebuild value. He’s shown what he’s capable of when healthy. With a more established player, it’s easier to come to common ground on the player’s valuation. I don’t know whether he’ll be moved, but his arb salary will not weigh heavily in the decisions. Instead, if he’s moved, it will be because trading him is less risky for both sides.
Nobody is indispensible/untradeable, and I’d prefer to keep India, BUT, the discussions seem to go to either extreme. He’s limited defensively, but some of that is the fallout of not playing his original position – 3b, see also Senzel, Nick. He’s also “injury prone” which is often illusory, but a high HBP% does play a role in that.
With all that, he’s at about peak value this winter. He’s a proven MLB player, has 3 years of control left, not at a premium position, and has positive intangibles/team player qualities. There’s plenty of data and knowledge of him around the various front offices.
Again, I prefer he remain, and believe the Reds do also, but he may be the only player on the roster that another team may make an offer they cannot refuse (i.e. stupidly one-sided n the Reds favor). If so, so be it.
To be clear, other teams may make stupid offers for the 1st and 2nd year players (the 26 year old and younger bunch) but the Reds would probably be stupid to consider those.
@Optimist, well said. I prefer for the Reds to target free agents this offseason and add to the talent pool. India makes the Reds better. That said, if moving him improves the team, I’m also open to that. The Reds are in a good spot with India.
I’d say the next positional prospect of Marte’s caliber will be in Rookie ball this year, Alfredo Duno. It may possibly be Cabrera as well at Hi-A. I hope so.
So, to dilute the present team as well as the team on the field until an 18 year old of equal talent and controllability reaches the show and recoups cost controlled value is folly.
The purpose of creating a window of playoff chances with a core of young controllable talent is to sustain the window, not open and close it for one season.
Lo-A, Cabrera
Exactly!
I’m not sure how trading a single player – especially one unproven at the big league level – from a pool of players that already don’t have enough places to play is “diluting” the team’s talent, especially since a trade involves talent coming back to the team.
For the same reason, doing so also would not constitute shutting a contending window, especially since it hasn’t been established that the window is open at all just yet.
I think your stat’s matrix is not totaling correctly.
It is and it’s not. The 2023 “totals” are for the minors only.
it would seem if there are something we can be sure that is Marte has hit well so far and will can hit well in the big leagues for many years to come. He could be projected as .280/.360/.460 hitter, not bad. I think he is gonna make an interesting right-handed hitting dúo with Steer in the middle of the lineup… Besides McLain and CES…
For sure. A line up with good hitters up and down are hard to handle.