MIAMI -- If fans at loanDepot park didn¡¯t see Noelvi Marte¡¯s third-inning home run during the Reds' 4-3 loss to the Marlins on Tuesday night, they certainly heard it.
The crack of the bat reverberated around the ballpark, turning collective heads in Marte¡¯s direction as he watched the ball slam off the seats in left field and bounce back onto the turf. The homer was a slingshot: rocketing off his bat with an exit velocity of 116.7 mph (per Statcast), tied for the hardest-hit homer of the season across MLB.
It¡¯s just one of Marte¡¯s many feats across the past few days that have turned heads. And the 23-year-old is quickly becoming a hot topic league-wide.
Marte was perhaps the player of the game in Cincinnati¡¯s 24-2 onslaught of Baltimore on Sunday with seven RBIs (missing the Reds¡¯ single-game record by one) on five hits, including his first career grand slam. Marte and catcher Austin Wynns (six RBIs) became the first Reds teammates to record at least six RBIs in a game since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920.
Marte went 2-for-4 on Monday with a double, and he clubbed the 116.7 mph HR in his first at-bat of Tuesday¡¯s game, putting Cincinnati up 1-0. Marte has eight hits in his past 14 at-bats, and he¡¯s slashing .346/.393/.692 with a 1.085 OPS.
¡°Confidence,¡± Marte said via an interpreter on what has been the key to his success. ¡°I think it returns back to me when I go out and compete every day.¡±
Marte finished the night 1-for-3 with a walk. Cincinnati gave up its 3-2 lead in the seventh and didn¡¯t score another run.
Despite his disappointment with the loss, Reds manager Terry Francona praised Marte¡¯s recent stretch.
¡°He¡¯s been very good,¡± Francona said. ¡°When he¡¯s covering right-center, when he kind of sets his sights that way, he¡¯s quick enough where he can get to the ball in. And he hit that [home run] ball really well. He¡¯s done a good job.¡±
Marte¡¯s big league days have not been plentiful to this point. He has played in just eight games this season for the Reds after beginning the year with Triple-A Louisville. He was called up to the Majors following Matt McLain¡¯s 10-day IL stint on April 8, but he was optioned back to Triple-A on April 15. The Reds recalled his contract two days later when Christian Encarnacion-Strand went on the IL due to back inflammation.
Marte appeared in 101 games for the Reds through the 2023-24 seasons, missing a significant chunk of the latter due to an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
¡°Thank God, it feels good,¡± Marte said on returning to the field. ¡°I believe the work that I¡¯ve been putting in and the consistency of what I¡¯ve done is what is putting me in the field right now.¡±
Marte hit .210 in 229 at-bats last season, collecting 48 hits, four homers and 18 RBIs in 66 games. This year, he¡¯s already halfway to last year¡¯s home run total and nearly halfway to his RBI total.
For Marte, the sample size remains small, but he has done great things with it thus far.
¡°The God-given talent that I have and the confidence that I work into it was exactly what I did,¡± Marte said. ¡°I mean, I worked on little things, I did little things ¡ and thank God I¡¯m here.¡±