Position: IF
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 170 lbs
Bats/Throws: L/R
Born: 09/16/1999
Country: Venezuela
Signed: International Free Agent, 2016 (Padres)
How Acquired: Trade (with Padres, along with Jack Suwinski and Michell Miliano, for Adam Frazier and cash)
Bonus: $320,000
40-man Roster: Yes
Rule 5 Eligible: N/A
Minor League Free Agency: N/A
Options Left: 1
Overview
Marcano profiles as a utility infielder. His strength is making contact; he’s more walks than strikeouts in the minors. He’s very thin, though, and isn’t likely to hit for a lot of power. He runs well, but hasn’t shown much feel for running the bases. He’s a solid defender at second, but scouts don’t consider him especially good at short. He’s also played third and the outfield corners. The Pirates acquired Marcano from San Diego in the Adam Frazier trade.
2017-20
Marcano got variable results in his first three pro seasons. He hit for a very high average in his second year, in 2018, divided between rookie and short-season ball. In 2019, he hit just decently in low A. His walk rates were very high and he seldom struck out. Marcano made it onto the top 30 list in a very strong Padres’ system, ranking 18th after the 2019 season. He didn’t play during the pandemic season, but San Diego added him to the 40-man roster afterward. BA moved him up to eighth in the system, probably due to the Padres graduating and trading a lot of prospects.
2021-22
Due to injuries, Marcano made the Padres’ roster to start the 2021 season and was up and down several times. Between AAA and the majors, he played second, third, short and the outfield corners. He hit very little in the majors. His AAA numbers (272/367/444) looked fairly good, but Marcano compiled them with El Paso, which is an extreme hitting environment, as his home park. His OPS was 350 points higher at home than on the road. On the other hand, he was young for AAA, at just 21, and was skipping both high A and AA. The Padres traded him to the Pirates in late July and he struggled in AAA. He played mostly second at Indianapolis.
2022-23
Marcano moved around a lot in 2022, dividing his season nearly equally between AA, AAA and the majors. He spent the first two months mostly at Altoona, then was up and down between Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. He hit very well in AA, well in AAA and very little in the majors. With the Pirates, LHPs were a big problem; Marcano had an anemic .518 OPS against them, .778 against RHPs. Marcano spent more than half his time in the field with the Pirates in left field, as the Pirates under Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton have insisted on a foolish pattern of playing weak-hitting middle infielders in the outfield. When he wasn’t in the outfield, Marcano most played second. The defensive metrics showed him to be good at second. They were variable in the outfield.
In 2023, Marcano started the season in a constantly changing situation at short and second, as the Pirates tried to cover for the loss of Oneil Cruz. He started the season playing second, but eventually became more or less the regular at short against RHPs. In late July, though, he suffered a knee injury and missed the rest of the season. By either OAA or UZR, Marcano was well below average at short. He also struggled to hit, putting up just a .633 OPS. He started the season well. In fact, he had an OPS of .829 in May, but he collapsed to .493 in June and .467 in July.
Stats
Transactions
July 2, 2016: Signed by the San Diego Padres as an international free agent.
November 20, 2020: Contract purchased by the San Diego Padres.
July 25, 2021: Traded by the San Diego Padres with Jack Suwinski and Michell Miliano to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Adam Frazier and cash.