The Promise of Noelvi Marte: How an 18-year-old Dominican Prospect’s Vow to His Father Pushed Him Toward Greatness MarinersPR Follow Jan 6 · 6 min read

Marte joins an impressive group of Mariners prospects who are ready to guide the resurgence of Seattle baseball.

Entering 2020, the Seattle Mariners are revered as having a Top-Five Minor League system, highlighted by MLB Pipeline’s №.’s 13, 25, 48, 58 and 70 overall prospects in baseball, including names like Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodríguez.

Regarded as two of the most important pieces to the youth movement that is barreling down on the Emerald City’s SoDo diamond, the aforementioned duo acts as a beacon of hope, displaying personalities and talent that can spur excitement and pride instantaneously. But, there is one player who doesn’t grab the same headlines as Kelenic and Rodríguez, but who is ready to join the outfielders in their quest to return Seattle baseball to prominence: his name is Noelvi Marte.

Some of you might be asking yourselves, “Who is Noelvi Marte?” Well, it’s a long story, but let’s lead with this: when he was asked how he described himself on and off the field, he used the word “alegre,” which translates from Spanish to “happy.”

“I love the game a lot,” Marte said. “I really love what I get to do every day and the spot that I am in. I am a player that likes to play with passion, I like to work hard to display my talent and show who I am on and off the field.

“I’m happy to just be a part of the team and this organization. I have my swag, you know I love to add a little style and flare to what I do, but I love supporting my boys and doing everything I can to help them.”

The Promise of Noelvi Marte

Marte grew up in a town in the Dominican Republic called Cotuí, one of the oldest cities in the New World as the municipality dates back to 1847. Cotuí is known for its extensive mining opportunities, including several gold mines, which is exactly what the Mariners think they found in Marte.

“Marte’s a five-tool guy,” said Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto. “We use the 20–80 scale, and five tools would be 50-or-better in each category. A lot of five-tool players you get are those 50–55 in each box. Noelvi isn’t filling them with 55's, he’s filling them with big numbers.

“Present day, it’s a 70-grade throwing arm and a 70-run tool combined with high-end athleticism. He’s a shortstop today. Simply put, he’s a power-speed package that you don’t see very frequently, and he’s doing it at a very young age.”

Marte always knew that baseball was his avenue to success in life. He once ended up at a game at the Estadio Julian Javier in San Francisco de Macorís, where Dominican professional baseball is played, and said to his father, “One day, I’m going to play in a dugout like that.”

“It was that day that I realized that the guys on the field played with the same emotion and passion that I do, and that if I keep focusing on my game, I could play professionally,” Marte explained.

Marte cranks a home run deep to left field in a Dominican Summer League game in 2019… the caption translates to: “Good results come when you work hard every day.”

Little did he realize in that moment that his baseball career was destined for even bigger, brighter lights in the United States. That destiny began to unfold when he signed with Seattle on July 2, 2018.

“The day I signed with the Mariners was a day filled with a lot of emotions,” Marte said. “It was the moment I belonged to a professional baseball team, I belonged to the Mariners. It was a really big deal for me because I was finally a professional baseball player, and I can finally show my dad that I did what I said I was going to do, that I could play professionally.”

Year One

How did he respond in his first professional season? Well, by being named Baseball America’s Player of the Year for the Dominican Summer League.

At 17 years old, Marte led the DSL with 54 RBI in 56 games. He also ranked T1st in total bases (134), 2nd in extra-base hits (31), 3rd in at-bats (262), 4th in hits (81), T4th in doubles (18), T4th in sacrifice flies (7), T5th in plate appearances (299), 6th in runs scored (56), T7th in home runs (9) and 13th in slugging percentage (.511). Marte enters 2020 ranked №. 13 by MLB Pipeline in Seattle’s system.

“It feels amazing (to be part of such an eclectic group of highly regarded prospects like Kelenic and Rodríguez), and I thank God for it,” he said. “I feel so proud to be considered in that group, to be considered with those athletes. It’s not something that I’m going to forget, because it’s a really big thing, and I believe that I can continue to progress and join those guys at the next level.

“I think I was able to hit the ball really well all season,” he added. “I felt like I was able to hit the ball for average and for power, especially in August, when I was able to get big hits for the team when we needed them.” — Marte hit .308 (33x107) with 10 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 47 RBI and 13 walks with RISP, including hitting .350 (14x40) with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 17 RBI and 4 walks with RISP and 2 outs.

Dipoto added, “He had a phenomenal year, particularly the month of August. That was amazing to watch.”

A Brotherhood Forged in the Dominican

Talent can take you pretty far in baseball, but passion is immeasurably important. Noelvi isn’t lacking for passion, and he constantly talks about how important his family and friends are to his success. He even goes as far as to citing the aforementioned Rodríguez as an inspiration, and a player he hopes to emulate as he climbs Seattle’s minor league ranks.

Rodríguez, who turned 19 on December 29, played in his first professional season in 2018, hitting .315 (69x219) with 5 home runs, 50 runs scored and 36 RBI in the DSL, one year prior to Marte’s breakout campaign.

“Julio is the type of guy who is really happy, super smart,” Marte said with a smile. “Julio is the guy I can rely on to tell me if I did something bad, he’s the guy who can communicate with anybody.

“I wanted to show the world who I am on the field because there was a lot of talk about how good of a season I was going to have, so I focused a lot on trying to do my best, kind of like Julio did (in 2018). I wanted to do as well as he did, or even better than he did, so that was the goal I put for myself, and thanks to God I played well.”

Marte (left) and Rodriguez (right) stand together in Seattle as close friends with aspirations to meet up again in Washington sooner rather than later. Photo: Ian Kraft, Seattle Mariners

Rodríguez added, “When we met after he signed down at the Academy, he and I clicked immediately. I see him as my little brother. When I heard he was coming to the Mariners High Performance Camp, I told the Mariners ‘That’s my guy. I want him to live with me.’”

They did, and now the two aspire to meet up again one day, representing their home country together in the Pacific Northwest.

“I haven’t had the chance to play with Julio, yet,” Marte said. “But it’s coming. We’ll play together soon.”

Rodríguez called him “a guy nobody is ready for, he’s a beast,” and added, “Seattle is going to love him.”