Top-ranked Marte continues turnaround with 4 extra-base hits

Top prospects are anointed as such for good reason. After approaching the end of June with an OPS below .700, the switch has undeniably flipped for Noelvi Marte.

The top-ranked Mariners prospect continued his midsummer onslaught against Northwest League pitching with perhaps his best game yet: three doubles, a home run and a season-high seven RBIs in High-A Everett’s 16-9 loss to Eugene on Friday.

“First of all, thank God for the last month and a half,” Marte said through interpreter Jose Umbria. “The work I’ve been putting in every day when I come to the field, having a plan and trying to commit to it and execute during the game… I feel like I’m in a really good spot.”

The 20-year-old Marte made hard contact all night. He got the AquaSox on the board in the third inning with a double to deep center field and then put his team ahead with a three-run home run in the fourth.

The Emeralds reclaimed the lead with a six-run fifth inning but Marte did his best to get the AquaSox back into the game. He doubled twice more, bringing in two runs in the seventh, and then walked to cap his big night, one in which he tied a season high with 10 total bases.

Since June 23, Marte has been on another planet, posting a .393/.485/.774 line with nine home runs in 22 games. Prior to this current stretch, he had hit just six home runs in 57 games. The turnaround seemed inevitable to anyone who had watched Marte as a teenager at Single-A last season, and it certainly isn’t surprising to the man himself.

“After I developed my plan, I started working from the cage to BP,” Marte said. “I feel like [now] the game starts for me at 1 p.m. not 7:05 p.m. because I have a really good plan. It’s just about executing that approach to every single at-bat.”

It’s undoubtedly easier to execute said approach when you’re protected in the lineup by a Major League hitter. That was the case on Friday with Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger beginning a rehab assignment with Everett. Batting behind Marte, Haniger went 1-2 with a walk and an RBI.

“It felt really good because I knew all I needed to do was get on base and he’s going to drive me in. But I felt like today I was the best player in the world,” Marte said.

He jokes, but that confidence is evident in his play. After recognizing a “negative mindset,” Marte reminded himself that there was plenty of season left, and used it as an opportunity to start fresh.

“I feel like I’m going to finish strong because now I have a plan to trust and commit to,” he said. “I have a process now to be successful, so I’m going to continue doing that and finish strong for the rest of the season.”