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BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic — There’s not a day that goes by at the Mariners’ academy where Noelvi Marte doesn’t think about his future; specifically, what it will feel like when he takes his career stateside.

The 17-year-old Dominican shortstop is playing on the Mariners’ Dominican Summer League team, and his motivation for leaving his home country is tied to his unwavering ambition to follow the path of his good friend Julio Rodriguez. Marte would love nothing more than to make the kind of momentous leap Rodriguez did in going from the DSL last summer all the way to the Mariners Low-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League this season.

“I see Julio as motivation,” Marte said. “I want to have the kind of success he’s had. I want to follow in his footsteps.”

Such a jump would qualify as a pipe dream for nearly all of the players here, as the players who perform well enough to leave the academy almost always head to Arizona, where the team has an entry in the Arizona Summer League.

But Rodriguez, who turns 19 in December, hit .315/.404/.525 with five home runs and 36 RBI last summer and never looked back. He impressed the staff and coaches so much with his performance in the DSL — and with his play in spring training — that Seattle allowed him to leapfrog over two levels to where he is now, 3 1/2 years younger than the average player in the South Atlantic League.

Rodriguez has assimilated well, slashing .276/.349/.471 with nine home runs and 40 RBI in 60 games with the West Virginia Power. He is currently ranked as Seattle’s No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline.

Marte, who will turn 18 in October, hasn’t experienced the type of success Rodriguez, an outfielder, did in the DSL last summer, but there is a faction of scouts who think Marte might grow into the kind of player Rodriguez has become. The shortstop is currently hitting .263/.332/.424 with five home runs, 33 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 51 games, a strong showing in his first taste of professional baseball.

The club’s No. 13 prospect has done nothing but impress his coaches, staff and the front office in the process. “He’s a real dude,” said Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto. “He’s got a chance to become a monster.”

Marte is from Cotui, about 2 1/2 hours from Boca Chica. He signed with the Mariners last summer for $1.55 million, but Seattle’s ties with him date back three years prior, when the club first scouted him as a 13-year-old when they made the rounds to see players.

This is not an uncommon practice. The Mariners, like all of the teams who scout heavily here and have academies on the island, often look at players between the ages of 12 and 15. In fact, the Mariners are already well down the road scouting players who will sign during the 2022 July signing period.

“It’s crazy … and the market is hot,” said Frederic Rioux, who is in his first season with the club as an assistant in international scouting. “If you see a player — and if you like him — you better give him an offer within a month; otherwise he’s gone.”

Eddy Toledo, the Mariners’ Dominican supervisor, and former international scouting director Tim Kissner were impressed by Marte’s tools: He’s considered a plus-runner, has plus-power potential, and there is a belief that he can stay in the middle of the field defensively.

“In addition to the power, we felt he was a true hitter,” Kissner said last summer. “We felt that he had the instincts as a hitter and a fundamentally sound swing, in addition to the power. There was good pitch recognition. That’s what pushed him to the top of our class.”

Marte was rated as the No. 4 overall prospect during the 2018 international signing period by Baseball America and was one of the most highly regarded players the club has signed in recent memory.

The Mariners would love for the 6-foot-1, 181-pound Marte to stick at shortstop. Time will tell whether he can. The truth is no one knows what Marte will look like at, say, 20 or 23.

“I think the body part is the most fascinating and toughest thing to project,” Rioux said. “You’ve got a kid who’s a shortstop right now at 13 years old. At 18, he might be 80-90 pounds heavier.”

What people inside the organization can agree on is that Marte has the makings of the kind of impact player the club wants to grow and eventually graduate to the big leagues. The hope within the organization is others will follow, helping build a steady pipeline of players from the academy in Boca Chica, which opened in 2014, to the United States.

“The talent is out the roof obviously,” said Marte’s manager in the DSL, Austin Knight. “But I think the thing that’s been most encouraging to me is he’s got that look in his eye, and what I mean by that is he loves to compete.

“When you think about where he could be in five years, that’s pretty exciting.”

Marte is a popular figure at the academy with staff, his coaches and his peers. It’s his second year here and he’s adapted well to life at the complex. He has a genial personality, and players naturally gravitate toward him.

This is where he built his friendship with Rodriguez, and it’s also where he’s worked to bond with his current teammates. These interactions, Marte said, are one of the best elements about life at the academy. He plans on taking what he’s learned here, what he’s gained from this experience when it’s time to leave.

“I think one of the best things about baseball is that you’re able to create relationships with people all the time,” Marte said. “I have done that here, and if you make it to the next level, you’ll make even more relationships there. I love that.”

He hopes that one day soon he can be paired with Rodriguez. For now, though, Marte is content following the path his good friend has traveled.