Cincinnati Reds' Top Prospect Now One Step Closer to the Major Leagues
The Cincinnati Reds are already the envy of baseball for all their top prospects, and another one is getting closer and closer to the big leauges.
The Reds are promoting top prospect Noelvi Marte to Triple-A Louisville.
Marte is currently the No. 2 prospect in the organization behind Elly De La Cruz but once De La Cruz exhausts his prospect eligibility, he will move up to No. 1.
The infielder was acquired at the trade deadline in 2022 from the Seattle Mariners in the deal that sent Luis Castillo to Seattle.
The 21-year-old is hitting .278 this year with eight homers and 25 RBI. The counting stats aren't as gaudy as he battled injury for a period earlier this year. He's also stolen 10 bases.
The following on Marte comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:
There are few prospects with more raw power than Marte, and he’s continuing to learn how to tap into it, with 36 homers over the last two seasons. It shows up more to his pull side as he’s good at barreling the ball out front. He draws walks and keeps his strikeouts to a minimum but can still improve on swing decisions and overall consistency in following his gameplan, though it should be noted he’s always been quite young for his level.
While Marte has the feel, instincts and arm to play shortstop long-term, it’s unclear if he’s going to outgrow the position. The Reds introduced him to third base in the AFL and were pleased with how that went, even if outside evaluators detected a player who looked more like he wanted to prove he can stick at short. He’s just 21 for all of the 2023 season, with plenty of time for him to figure things out and let his bat carry him to the big leagues.
The Reds are currently 41-37 and in first place in the National League Central.
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