Right-hander Yunior Marte, who was granted his release by the Pirates over the weekend, is signing with the Rakuten Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per a team announcement (hat tip to Yuri Karasawa of Yakyu Cosmopolitan). Danny Demilio of Pittsburgh Sports Now reported at the time of Marte’s release that the righty was likely headed back to Japan for what’ll be his second stint in NPB.
The 31-year-old Marte appeared in one game with the Reds earlier this season. He was tagged for four runs in just one-third of an inning, resulting in an absurd-looking 108.00 ERA on the season, though obviously there’s not much to glean from one miserable outing. The Reds designated Marte for assignment following that lone appearance. He opted for free agency over an outright assignment upon clearing waivers and signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh a couple days later.
Marte has pitched in part of four big league seasons, struggling to a 5.94 ERA in 113 2/3 total innings. Despite the rough results in the majors, the 6’2″ right-hander has a solid overall track record in Triple-A and was excellent in a 2025 stint with NPB’s Chunichi Dragons.
In parts of six Triple-A seasons, Marte carries a career 4.30 ERA. He’s fanned 26.3% of opponents there, walked 11% of the batters he’s faced and induced ground-balls at a strong 46.9% clip in 171 2/3 frames at the Triple-A level between the Royals, Giants, Phillies, Reds and Pirates organizations. Marte sits right around 97 mph with both his four-seamer (97.2 mph) and sinker (96.8 mph). His go-to secondary pitch is an 86 mph slider, and he’ll mix in an occasional splitter that sits 90 mph.
Marte will bring that arsenal back to Japan, presumably in a high-leverage role with the Eagles. He picked up 11 holds and two saves in a half season’s worth of appearances with the Dragons last year. A strong performance could earn him another look with a North American club but would also potentially position him to re-sign for a nice guarantee with a team in Japan or South Korea.
