SF Giants minor league notes: Yunior Marte's promotion, Luis De La Torre's torrid stretch

Yunior Marte was among the players to receive a promotion last week. Could Luis De La Torre be close to making a move to Double-A as well after a torrid stretch?

SF Giants minor league notes: Yunior Marte's promotion, Luis De La Torre's torrid stretch

1. Yunior Marte's promotion to Double-A

Last week, the Giants announced a wave of promotions throughout the system. Jhonny Level and Joe Whitman headlined those announcements. Whitman collected six scoreless innings on Friday night in his Triple-A debut.

Marte moving up to Double-A after making just nine appearances at High-A caught me by surprise. He posted a solid 3.74 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 19 walks in 43.1 frames with the Eugene Emeralds. These are solid numbers, but it felt like an aggressive move

However, Marte is eligible for the Rule 5 draft in the offseason, so that likely was part of the motivation. The Giants want to see how he does against more advanced hitters because they will have a decision to make on him in the winter. The 22-year-old pitcher yielded two earned runs with seven strikeouts and two walks in 4.2 innings in his debut with the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

On the mound, the righty pitcher throws from an over-the-top arm slot. His delivery requires some effort, but he is able to repeat it well enough, leading to a healthy number of pitches in the zone. Marte throws a mid 90's fastball that can get some run up in the zone. He mixes in a mid 80's slider with a mid 80's splitter. The slider is effective against right-handed hitters, and Marte leans more on his splitter against left-handed hitters.

2. Luis De La Torre's torrid stretch

Speaking of players eligible for the Rule 5 draft, De La Torre might not be far behind Marte. The southpaw pitching prospect has some of the best stuff in the organization. This includes a mid 90's fastball with a pair of mid 80's breaking balls. He had been experimenting with a splitter as well, but he has also thrown a changeup in the past.

De La Torre's delivery creates some good pitch characteristics, especially for his fastball. He throws from a three-quarters armslot, and gets good extension, leading some good carry up in the zone.

The left-handed pitcher got off to a slow start with the Emeralds. At the start of the season, this felt like an aggressive assignment for a pitcher who made just eight appearances for the San Jose Giants at the end of last season. Given that he is eligible for the Rule 5 draft, the Giants have to be more aggressive. That is not uncommon throughout baseball.

It took a few starts for De La Torre to hit his stride, but he is making a case to move up another level soon enough. Since May 1, he has posted a 2.10 ERA with 45 strikeouts and 20 walks across 30 innings of work. The control remains a work in progress, but it is easy to forget that he is still relatively new to pitching.

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