Yunior Marte draws comparison to tall reliever who quietly won two rings with SF Giants

The SF Giants have had to dig quite deep on the organizational depth chart this year in every respect, but especially when it comes to pitching. The trade deadline thinned the herd and the second half has seen a bunch of arms go on the injured list which has forced San Francisco to call up a number of young pitchers including Yunior Marte who was promoted straight from Double-A after impressing in the minors.

The Giants acquired him at the trade deadline last year in the deal that sent Mike Yastrzemski to the Kansas City Royals. Marte made his first career big league start on Saturday night and drew a comparison that provided Giants fans a nice blast from the past.

Broadcasters Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper both likened Marte to former Giant Guillermo Mota. Fans will remember the tall right-handed pitcher from his time with San Francisco from 2010 to 2012. He was not one of San Francisco’s best bullpen arms during either of those championship runs, but he still got two rings.

Those three seasons in San Francisco were the final three of his 14-year career. He had a 4.18 ERA in 134 regular season appearances with the Giants and didn’t allow a run in two World Series appearances in 2010 while he got roughed up and allowed four earned runs in three appearances in 2012. He also tested positive for PEDs and was suspended for part of the 2012 season.

He is still a two-time champion with the Giants though and it’s not hard to understand why Kruk and Kuip thought of him when seeing Marte. Mota is 6-foot-6 and hails from the Dominican Republic. Marte is 6-foot-6 and also is from the D.R.

Yunior Marte has a great chance to earn a 2027 role with SF Giants

Mota didn’t have overpowering stuff in his career at least by the time he reached the Giants. Neither does Marte but he can still get guys out as evidenced by his 4 and 2/3 innings of work against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday in which he allowed just one run.

The Giants should give Marte a lot of leash the rest of this season. He is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft after the season so the Giants need to decide if he is worth protecting by keeping him on the 40-man roster or if they are comfortable with the chance that another team could claim him.

Maybe if he impresses he can insert himself into the team’s 2027 plans either as a reliever or potentially even a starter. It’s cool that he has such a similar profile to an ex-Giant, but Marte has an opportunity to carve out his own path in the final month of the season.

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