When the San Francisco Giants took the field for the second half of their doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, Giants manager Tony Vitello gave rookie pitcher Yunior Marte the start, allowing him to make his MLB debut.
Marte, 23, was originally acquired by the Giants as a part of the trade that sent outfielder Mike Yastrzemski to the Kansas City Royals last season. Important note: the Azua, Dominican Republic native is not related to 31-year-old Yunior Marte who played for the Giants back in 2022.
Marte was recalled directly from the Giants' Double-A affiliate, the Richmond Flying Squirrels, becoming the second Giant to bypass Triple-A to make their MLB debut this season, following Jonah Cox. During his time in Richmond, Marte went 2-4 with a 3.92 ERA and 72 strikeouts. The six-foot-six right-hander is currently ranked as the Giants' 24th best prospect by MLB.com and has a 4-seam fastball, a slider as well as a splitter in his arsenal.
Marte gave up a walk to the first batter he faced in the Majors: Lars Nootbar, who had hit a grand slam in the first game of the doubleheader. From there, he recovered well as he forced Corbin Carroll to hit into a double play and got out of the inning due to a groundout by Geraldo Perdomo .
In his second inning of work, Marte had an even better inning, retiring the side in order, but he was still looking for his first career strikeout.
That would change in the bottom of the third inning, as he was able to get veteran catcher James McCann to swing and miss leading off the inning. The very next batter, though, Marte gave up his first hit to second baseman Ildemaro Vargas , who barely beat out the throw on a bang-bang play at first base.
The Diamondbacks got their first run of the night on a hit to left field by Nootbaar, which bounced out of Grant McCray 's glove and allowed Vargas to score from first base. As a result, Marte had surrendered his first career run, arguably to no fault of his own. He seemed a little rattled at this stage, as he walked Corbin Carroll, but was able to get out of the inning having surrendered just a single run.
Reiver Sanmartin started warming up in the top of the fifth, meaning that the end of Marte's first MLB outing was nearing its end. After Marte retired Ryan Waldschmidt, his night came to an end with a standing ovation from the Oracle Park crowd, as Sanmartin entered the game to close out the fifth inning.
When his night came to an end, Marte finished his debut with three strikeouts, one run allowed and 76 pitches thrown through 4.2 innings, 48 of which were strikes and 28 balls. Since he was pulled in the middle of the inning, Marte's performance was only rewarded with a no-decision despite the Giants restoring their lead in the bottom of the inning. The Giants went on to win 7-2, with the win awarded to Sanmartin.
All-in-all, it was an impressive Major League debut for the Giants' 24th ranked prospect. He showed that he can at least hang with one of the National League West's top teams. Whether or not he'll be able to perform at the MLB basis on a regular basis remains to be seen, but he's off to a solid start.
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