“Anything you can do, I can do better.”
Even if it wasn’t said verbatim, that was the sentiment that Julio Rodríguez and Noelvi Marte shared to each other during an 8-4 Mariners win on Wednesday at Great American Ball Park.
While Rodríguez, the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year, and Marte are on opposite teams now, they both overlapped in the Mariners organization, first connecting at the Mariners' Dominican Academy and becoming close. The two were never directly teammates at the Minor League level, though they both did play for High-A Everett in 2021 -- with Rodríguez being promoted to Double-A Arkansas shortly before Marte’s arrival to Everett. Marte was one of several prospects sent to Cincinnati in the Luis Castillo trade in 2022.
“Really hard-working kid,” Rodríguez said of Marte. “He's really humble, really dedicated. I know he has tons of talent, but he always goes about his business. And he's just great. I'm really happy to see him out there and just kind of chasing his dream, because there's a lot of times that we talked about being here. I know we talked about being together, but I'm really happy that he's up here on his own and just kind of making it happen.”
While they never got to play together in the Minors, their bond was on display Wednesday night. On the final plate appearance of the second inning, Rodríguez made a nice running backhanded catch of a Marte liner.
Then, to begin the top of the third, Rodríguez hit a high grounder to Marte, who made a strong throw from third to record the out despite Rodríguez’s impressive 31.0 feet/second sprint speed on the play.
Just as notable as the actual plays were each player’s reaction to them: Rodríguez flashed a mile-wide smile and didn't take his eyes off Marte after securing his catch, while Marte made sure to wave his finger at J-Rod after nabbing him at first base.
The sport is at its best when its players are having fun, and both Rodríguez and Marte were up to the task on Wednesday.
While Rodríguez’s Seattle squad took the win, both clubs have turned heads this season, partially thanks to their young talent. Seattle is in great position to make the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2000 and 2001, while the Reds -- for whom Marte made his MLB debut on Aug. 19 -- are in the midst of an extremely competitive NL Wild Card race with a chance to make the playoffs in a full season for the first time since 2013.