Why Yunior Marte's San Francisco Giants Debut Was So Impressive

The San Francisco Giants' youth isn't quite in full swing, but there have been glimpses of it thus far late in a lost season.

Near the bottom of the National League West Division standings, the Boys by the Bay have nothing to play for, and they have begun to show their frustration as Fall is arriving. Still, they've gotten a lot of positive impressions of the prospects that have had an audition in the bigs.

That trend continued again on Saturday, as rookie pitcher Yunior Marte stepped to the hill at Oracle Park for his Major League debut in game two of a doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He didn't disappoint, delivering 4.2 innings, allowing three hits, three strikeouts, and two walks. The 6-6, 235-pound righty cast an imposing figure on the mound. He allowed one earned run, but failed to get the decision.

The Giants would go on to win the game, 7-2, powered by Bryce Eldridge's four-hit, four-RBI performance. Afterwards, Marte was ecstatic about his initial outing.

“It was really awesome,” Marte said through interpreter Erwin Higuerosa, per the San Francisco Chronicle (subscription required) “He just gave me a few tips — to enjoy the moment and try not to give up a lot of bases on balls.”

“That was a lot of fun,” manager Tony Vitello said, describing Marte as a player with personality and panache. “Marte was dancing a little before he went out on the mound. Normally you think your job is to calm a guy down, but he was talking to me like I was his college roommate before he went out there.”

Another Arm for the Future

President Posey — Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey | Credit: Robert Edwards | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Marte falls right in line with a crop of pitching prospects that have broken the seal on what has been bubbling over in the San Francisco organization. It's certainly well represented by position players like breakout star Eldridge this season and a future star like Josuar Gonzalez. But in the past few weeks, the arms race is on at Oracle.

Carson Whisenhunt (currently out for the year), Matt Wilkinson, and now Marte have all shown that they could be candidates for the rotation as soon as next season.

Buster Posey has drawn criticism from the San Fran fans for the team's play this season, as well as the poor performance of his big and money acquisitions, Rafael Devers and Willy Adames. But he has to receive high marks for what he's done in rebuilding the roster from the lowest ranks of the minors all the way up. The future is bright by the Bay, and that was illuminated even further by the electric performance of Marte.

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