By Jim Keller SportsTicker Staff Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Chipper Jones. Andruw Jones. Andy Marte. The Jones boys are superstar performers for the Atlanta Braves, but who is Andy Marte?

Marte is a third baseman who is putting up numbers at Class A Macon in the South Atlantic League similar to those produced by Chipper and Andruw in their minor league days.

The 6-1, 185-pound Marte, who is only 18 years of age and the fourth youngest everyday player in the league, is batting .284 with 26 doubles, 17 homers and 85 RBI with a month to go in the season. His RBI total leads the league and his home run total ranks second.

By comparison, in 1991, a 19-year-old Chipper Jones hit .326 with 15 homers and 98 RBI for the Macon club. Andruw Jones came along in '95 and hit .277 with 25 homers and 100 RBI at the age of 18 for the same club.

The Braves organization gets excited when Marte's name is brought up for discussion.

"He's been outstanding for us this year," said Darryl Monroe, Atlanta's assistant director of player development. "We expect great things from him. We have a high ceiling for him."

However, Monroe is hesitant to compare Marte to Chipper or Andruw.

"Those two players have been tremendous for this organization," he added. "It is kind of dangerous to compare younger players to those two but that's the kind of player he wants to be. He wants to be that impact player."

After his debut season in the States in 2001, nobody could have predicted this would be a breakout year for Marte, a native of the Dominican Republic. He hit just .200 last season with one homer and 12 RBI in 37 games for Danville of the rookie level Appalachian League. But the Braves chalked that up to an adjustment period for the relatively shy Marte, who speaks little English.

Though it's way too early to predict if Marte will reach the same level of success as his predecessors, the numbers and age explain why the Braves are extremely high on the young righthanded hitter.

"He's doing everything we expect him to do to be an offensive player," Monroe said. "We want him to be able to drive the ball and the power numbers will come off of that."

Marte has been consistent all season. He hit for the cycle, posted a five-hit game and won the Home Run Derby at the South Atlantic League All-Star game.

More impressive, Marte has avoided the slumps that are common for young hitters not used to playing a 140-game schedule. He's shown some patience at the plate with 37 walks in 100 games and hasn't struck out that much (93 times) for a player of limited experience.

Not just an offensive presence, Monroe likes the instincts that Marte has on defense.

"He shows you actions. He takes the right route to the ball and he throws accurately," he said.

Marte has made 21 errors this season, a pretty common number for young third baseman.

The one tool that Marte does lack is speed, which sets him apart from Chipper and Andruw. But hitting ability, power potential and work ethic should carry this youngster a long way -- perhaps to Atlanta where one day, he can share the middle of the batting order with the two more familiar Macon Braves stars.