The Cincinnati Reds are calling up their top prospect. Again. This time it’s infielder Noelvi Marte who is getting the call from the big league club. Late last night Marte’s agent Rafa Nieves teased the news a bit on instagram with a photo of the two and the caption “After 5 years we did it. Now we go for more” and an up arrow emoji. This morning the news was confirmed by ESPN’s Jeff Passan that the move was going to happen.
Adding Noelvi Marte to the lineup gives Cincinnati another young player to lean on. He’s likely to join (likely because we don’t know the corresponding move yet, and while it doesn’t appear that anyone is injured it’s possible that someone is and we just don’t know about it yet) fellow rookies Spencer Steer, Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and Elly De La Cruz in the lineup. On the pitching side the organization is also leaning heavily on rookie pitchers Andrew Abbott and Brandon Williamson.
When the Reds acquired Noelvi Marte from Seattle in a 2022 trade deadline deal that sent Luis Castillo to the Mariners, he was just one of four prospects that came over in the transaction. He was the biggest name in the deal, but it also included Edwin Arroyo – a top 100 prospect – as well as pitchers Levi Stoudt and Andrew Moore.
Marte was assigned to Dayton after the trade last season. Exclusively playing shortstop at the time, he hit .293/.397/.443 in 30 games with 10 stolen bases, 17 walks, and 23 strikeouts before the season ended. Cincinnati then sent him to the Arizona Fall League so he could get playing time at third base.
This season he’s continued to get time at third base – playing there more often than he has shortstop, though he split time between the two while in Double-A with Chattanooga. In his 39 games with Triple-A Louisville he has only played third base while he’s been in the field.
The 21-year-old Marte has played in 89 games this season between Chattanooga and Louisville (he missed a little bit of time on the injured list and played in three games on a rehab assignment out in Arizona) and has hit .280/.360/.460 between the two levels. In his 389 plate appearances he’s walked 42 times (10.8%) and he’s struck out 69 times (17.7%). He shows a good understanding of the strikezone for a player his age, makes plenty of contact, and while he hasn’t fully tapped into his power yet – he’s got a solid amount of power right now.
Defensively he’s more suited for third base than shortstop in the long run. He’s faster than many sources give him credit for, too. He’s gone 18-for-22 in stolen base attempts this season.
Cincinnati placed infielder Kevin Newman on the 10-day injured list to open up the spot for Noelvi Marte on the active roster. Newman is headed to the injured list with a left oblique strain. That move is retroactive to Wednesday.