Yunior Marte
Yunior Marte is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher in the Cincinnati Reds organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies, and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Chunichi Dragons. In 2012, he signed as an international free agent with the Kansas City Royals.
Early and personal life
Marte was born in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. During the offseason he lives in Santo Domingo Norte, Dominican Republic.Career
Kansas City Royals
On July 19, 2012, when he was 17 years of age, he was signed as an international free agent by the Kansas City Royals for $200,000, but the result of his medical exams indicated that he had an elbow injury, so the team gave up signing him and days later negotiated with his agent and reached a $75,000 agreement. In 2013, Marte was named Dominican Royals Pitcher of the Year in the Dominican Summer League, after going 4–3 with an earned run average of 1.71 in 11 appearances covering innings. Marte spent the 2014 season with the rookie-level Burlington Royals, posting a 4–3 record and 3.44 earned run average and 8 hit by pitches over innings in 11 contests.In 2015, Marte played for the Single-A Lexington Legends. He recorded a 4–5 record and 6.44 earned run average with 60 strikeouts, 38 walks, 12 hit by pitch, 14 wild pitches, and a 1.797 walks plus hits per inning pitched over innings in 18 games.
In 2016, for Single-A Lexington, Marte was 6–8 with one save and a 4.21 earned run average in 26 games, in which he pitched a career-high 107 innings, threw 19 wild pitches, led the league with 3 balks, walked 55 batters, and struck out 103 batters. He ranked sixth among South Atlantic League relievers with a batting average against of.225.
In 2017, Marte was a Carolina League mid-season All Star with the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks. He also made 17 appearances for the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals on the year, in which he was 1–2 while registering a 5.75 earned run average with 27 walks and 38 strikeouts in 36 innings, with a walks plus hits per inning pitched of 1.667. In 2018 pitching for the Double–A Northwest Arkansas Naturals he was 4–4 with two saves and a 2.91 earned run average in 43 relief appearances in which Marte pitched innings and struck out 80 batters.
In 2019, Marte split the year between Northwest Arkansas and the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers. In 14 relief appearances between the two teams, he posted a 4.19 earned run average with 12 walks and 15 strikeouts in innings of work, and a walks plus hits per inning pitched of 1.552. Marte did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 2, 2020, he elected minor league free agency.
San Francisco Giants
On December 9, 2020, Marte signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants organization. In 2021 for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, Marte was 0–3 with four saves and a 3.49 earned run average in innings in which he gave up 23 walks and had 62 strikeouts and a 1.465 walks plus hits per inning pitched over 43 games. The Giants added Marte to their 40-man roster following the 2021 season.After 3 scoreless appearances for Sacramento, on April 12, 2022, Marte was promoted to the major leagues for the first time to fill in for Tyler Rogers, who had been placed on paternity leave. Marte made his major league debut that day, pitching a scoreless inning of relief and allowing one hit to close out a 13–2 victory over the San Diego Padres. Marte was optioned back to Triple-A the following day after John Brebbia was reinstated from the bereavement list. On October 5, Marte earned his first career win after pitching two perfect innings against the San Diego Padres.
Pitching for the Giants in 2022, he was 1–1 with a 5.44 earned run average in 39 relief appearances, in which he pitched 48 innings and gave up 22 walks while striking out 44 batters, and had a walks plus hits per inning pitched of 1.438. Batters had a barrel percentage against him of 3.5%, in the lowest 3% in the major leagues. He mostly threw an 86 mph slider, a 97 mph sinker, and a 98 mph four-seam fastball. Pitching for Sacramento in 2022 he was 1–1 with three saves and a 3.16 earned run average in 25 relief appearances, in which he pitched innings, giving up nine hits and striking out 35 batters.
Philadelphia Phillies
On January 9, 2023, the Giants traded Marte to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for pitcher Erik Miller. Pitching for the Phillies in 2023, he was 1–1 with a 5.03 earned run average, as he had a 1.627 walks plus hits per inning pitched in innings over 40 games.Marte made 23 appearances for the Phillies in 2024, struggling to a 6.92 earned run average with 23 strikeouts across 26 innings pitched. On November 4, Marte was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to the Triple–A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, but he rejected the assignment and elected free agency.