Phillies Acquire Righthander Yunior Marte From Giants For Lefthander Erik Miller

Image credit: Yunior Marte (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

On Monday morning the Phillies completed a trade with the Giants, acquiring righthanded reliever Yunior Marte for lefthanded pitching prospect Erik Miller . Months after falling two wins short of a World Series championship, the Phillies are continuing to aggressively add to the major league roster.

Marte gives the Phillies young bullpen depth with years of control and multiple options remaining, while San Francisco adds a lefthanded reliever, an area of shallow depth within the Giants farm system. Miller, a former Stanford standout, ranked seventh on the recent Phillies Top 10 list.

PHILLIES RECEIVE

Yunior Marte , RHP
Age: 27

Signed by the Royals out of the Dominican Republic back in 2012, Marte signed with the Giants as a minor league free agent prior to the 2021 season. Marte pitched well with the Giants Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento throughout 2021 and earned a spot on San Francisco’s 40-man roster at the end of the season. Entering 2022 Marte joined the ranks of the Giants bullpen, making 39 appearances while shuttling between Sacramento and San Francisco. Marte struggled to recapture the command and above-average bat-missing ability he showed with Triple-A Sacramento, but did use his two-seam fastball effectively to generate ground balls at a rate of 48.6% in 2022. Marte blends a pair of fastball shapes in a four-seam and two-seam variation—which sit in the mid-to-high 90s. His primary secondary is a slider in the mid 80s with tighter shape and late cut. With multiple options remaining, Marte provides the Phillies with a major league-caliber player they can move back and forth from Triple-A.

GIANTS RECEIVE

Erik Miller , LHP
Age: 24

A 2019 fourth-rounder out of Stanford, Miller found initial success out of the draft, reaching Low-A and striking out 52 batters over 36 innings in his professional debut. Following the 2020 pandemic Miller dealt with a rotator cuff strain that limited him to 12.2 innings and five outings during 2021. Miller returned to health in 2022, making 32 appearances between Double-A and Triple-A, primarily as a reliever, and earned an invitation to the Futures Game in Los Angeles last July. Miller showed the ability to miss bats, striking out 29.1% of batters he faced in 2022, but struggled with command, walking 14.7% of opposing hitters. Miller was eligible to be added to the Phillies 40 man roster this offseason, but was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft before he ultimately went unselected. Miller throws four pitches in a fastball, slider, curveball and changeup, but his four-seam fastball, changeup and slider see a majority of his usage. Miller’s fastball sits 94-96 mph, touching 99 mph at peak with average ride and heavy arm-side run. His changeup is a mid-80s pitch with heavy tumble and fade, while his slider is an upper-80s slider-cutter hybrid. With a year of upper-minors experience, Miller could provide the Giants with potential bullpen depth at some point early in 2023.