This is the first of my Prospect Profile reports. If you’ve been following my prospect countdown on Twitter (@JWeisser88) you will notice that I have Noelvi Marte at #100 and Orelvis Martinez at #99 and I feel that they have even more talent than the rankings would suggest. I believe they will continue to move up the list as the season progresses as they are super talented and will just need to continue to improve and showcase their skills in a full season league in the near future. Noelvi Marte ranked as the Mariners #10 prospect and Orelvis Martinez as the Blue Jays #8 prospect in both teams’ midseason 2019 rankings on the site, and they both should continue to move up the rankings as they progress throughout the minors. Thanks to Baseball America for the YouTube videos included below.
Noelvi Marte, SS, Seattle Mariners
Ranks: #100 on my Top 100, #86 on Prospects1500’s Top 172 prospects
Signed by the Seattle Mariners out of the Dominican Republic in 2018. Noelvi Marte is one of the youngest players on the top 100 and has yet to play stateside professionally. He should make his stateside debut sometime in 2020. Marte has made enough noise while playing in the Dominican Summer League with his tools and performance to make many evaluators excited about watching him as he develops. He is considered a special talent, and is an incredible runner with the ability to hit for power and average as he continues to develop.
Age: 18 Size: 6’1”, 181 Bats: R Throws: R ETA: 2024
Hitting: Noelvi has excellent bat speed and was able to turn it into in game power as he hit 9 home runs in 66 games in the DSL. He needs to refine his approach so that he can hit for more contact and average but that’s typical of young hitters like him. His speed is so good that some evaluators have given him a future 80 grade (on the 20-80 scale) which would make him an elite runner.
Defense: Although it’s hard to project where Noelvi might play as he matures he does have the talent, arm, and athleticism to play on the infield just it’s yet to be determined if he’ll have to move somewhere else other than shortstop as he develops. He has made progress on his fielding and will need to continue improving his hands and footwork in order to stick at shortstop long term but something he still might be able to do.
2020 and beyond: Marte will probably start the season off at a short-season assignment either in the rookie level Arizona league or a more advanced short-season league depending on what the Seattle Mariners preference is.
Orelvis Martinez, SS, Toronto Blue Jays
Ranks: #99 on my Top 100, #107 on Prospects1500’s Top 172 prospects
Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays out of the Dominican Republic in 2018. Orelvis was able to skip the Dominican Summer League and started his young career in the rookie level Gulf Coast League. He impressed scouts enough to earn All-Star honors on his way to becoming the top ranked prospect in the Gulf Coast League according to Baseball America.
Age: 18 Size: 6’1”, 188 Bats: R Throws: R ETA: 2023
Hitting: Martinez is a good young power hitter with good hand-eye coordination that makes plenty of loud contact which leads scouts to believe he will develop into an above average hitter with above average or better power. He hit 7 home runs in the GCL which ranked 2nd in the league. He has excellent bat speed with some loft to his swing which allows him to generate plenty of in game power with the chance to develop even more power as he matures.
2019 Hit Streak: 5 (6/24-6/29), 8-19 (.421), with 2 doubles, a triple and a home run
2019 Best Game: 8/20/19 vs. GCL Tigers 3-4, with home runs and 3 RBI
Splits: vs. RH: .263/.359/.535 vs. LH: .302/.333/.581 Fielding %: .913
Fielding: Orelvis has really good hands and a strong enough arm to play at shortstop but he lacks lateral quickness, which limits his range. Due to his limited range and the fact that he will continue to grow scouts and evaluators feel that he will eventually move over to third base which is probably a better fit for him long term and he saw some time there while in the GCL.
2020 and Beyond: Martinez could start the season at either extended spring training or if he impresses enough in spring training there’s a chance he could start in the full season Midwest League. He has a bat that should allow him to develop into a middle of the lineup hitter with power that’s capable of playing above average defense at third base.
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