Noelvi Marte Named International League Player of the Week

After a dominant week in the Louisville Bats’ series win over the Iowa Cubs on the road last week, outfielder Noelvi Marte was named International League Player of the Week for the period of April 20-26.

The award is the second for a Louisville player this season and the first since outfielder Rece Hinds was named International League Player of the Week for the opening week of the season three weeks ago.

This is Marte’s fifth career weekly award and first since 2023, when he twice earned Southern League Player of the Week honors with Double-A Chattanooga. Previously, he earned the honors for the High-A Northwest League with the Everett AquaSox in 2022 and the California League with Single-A Modesto in 2021. Both of those awards came when he was a member of the Seattle Mariners organization.

Marte, 24, started the season with the Cincinnati Reds before being optioned to Louisville on April 13. Since joining the Bats, he’s been the team’s hottest hitter, batting .452 (19-for-42) with two home runs, three RBI, 11 runs scored, three doubles, a triple, and six stolen bases in 10 games.

During the series against Iowa, Marte was one of the offensive stars for the Bats, batting a stellar .560 (14-for-25) with two home runs, three RBI, seven runs scored, and six stolen bases in five games played. He posted multiple hits and at least one stolen base in all five games he played.

Marte began the series in fine form, hitting his first two home runs of the season in back-to-back days on Tuesday and Wednesday. He added three hits including a double in Friday’s 11-inning triumph before capping the series with four hits, three runs, and a pair of stolen bases in Sunday’s series-clinching win.

Since he was optioned to Louisville two weeks ago, Marte ranks among the International League leaders in batting average (1^st, .452), hits (1^st, 19), total bases (1^st, 30), OPS (3^rd, 1.214), stolen bases (T-3^rd, 6), slugging percentage (4^th, .714), runs (T-4^th, 11) and on-base percentage (5^th, .500).

Last week, the Bats won four of six games at Iowa to earn their first series victory at Principal Park since Louisville and Iowa returned to the same league in 2021. The series win is also the Bats’ second straight on the road to start the 2026 season.

Marte is currently playing for the Bats for the fourth consecutive season. He was originally acquired by the Reds along with current Bats teammate Edwin Arroyo in the trade that sent All-Star pitcher Luis Castillo to the Mariners on July 30, 2022. Marte later made his MLB debut for the Reds on August 19, 2023 and has played parts of the last four seasons in Cincinnati, including his postseason debut in last season’s Wild Card Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Bats (16-11) continue their road trip with a six-game series at the Omaha Storm Chasers (12-14) beginning on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch at Werner Park is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Nick Curran will have the call on Sports Talk 790 AM.