With strong Venezuelan roots, Tucupita Marcano one-third of Pirates' return in Adam Frazier trade

The Pirates acquired three players from the San Diego Padres in the Adam Frazier trade Sunday — all with zero or minimal major-league experience.

The closest to the majors is infielder/outfielder Tucupita Marcano. That’s because he played in 25 games for the Padres this season.

He was named for the Venezuelan town where he was born nearly 22 years ago and is the son of famous Venezuelan player, Raul Marcano, who played independent baseball in the U.S. Lancaster, Pa., was his final stop in 2005.

After signing with the Padres for $320,000 at the age of 16, Tucupita Marcano came to the U.S. in 2018 and hit a combined .366 for the Single-A short-season Tri City Devils in Pasco, Wash., and the Padres’ Rookie League team in Arizona.

The following year, he went to Single-A Fort Wayne and hit .270, with two home runs and 45 RBIs.

Batting left, throwing right at 6-foot, 170 pounds, he was ranked the No. 5 Padres prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 8 by Baseball America. But he also was ranked the Padres’ top international prospect and No. 3 among infielders.

He made the Padres’ major-league roster coming out of spring training this year after getting hits in seven of his first 13 Cactus League at-bats and leading the Padres early in the spring with a 1.462 OPS.

Sent down 10 games into the season to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas, he was brought back May 11 when the Padres lost five players to covid-19 complications. He returned to El Paso early in June and was there at the time of the trade. He played right field, batted leadoff and was 1 for 5 Saturday night while the Chihuahuas split a doubleheader with the Albuquerque Isotopes.

In 25 games with the Padres, he was 8 for 44 (.182) while playing second base, both corner outfield positions and third base.

“He’s just a ballplayer; that’s been my impression,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler told the San Diego Union-Tribune this spring. “I feel very comfortable with him defensively at a lot of positions. He’s a surehanded guy.

“He’s a good decision-maker. He’s very trustworthy out there at a lot of different positions. He’s certainly trustworthy in the batter’s box. I love his hand-eye coordination, his ability to find the sweet part of the bat. He can hit line drives. He can hit them a lot of different directions.

“He can run. He can do a lot of things. He’s just a baseball player. He’s certainly caught my eye.”

Baseball America’s scouting report remarks on the slender Marcano’s lack of power, but calls him a “smart hitter who controls the strike zone and makes consistent contact with a direct, compact stroke.”

“He lines the ball to all fields and is a prolific bunter with a great feel for when to lay one down, including on squeeze plays.

“He beats bunts out for singles with his plus speed, but he makes poor decisions on the basepaths and frequently gets picked off or caught stealing. Marcano is an average defender whose best asset is his versatility.”

MLB Pipeline points out that Marcano “needs to fill out is 6-foot frame.” It also labeled his “hand-eye coordination almost too good, and he’d be better served being more selective within the strike zone, swinging at pitches he can do damage with. If his plate skills carry to the upper levels, Marcano could develop into a serious on-base threat as a bat-first middle infielder.”

Of his defensive skills, MLB Pipeline’s report states a “merely average” arm might eventually settle him at second base.

The other two players acquired by the Pirates — outfielder Jack Suwinski and right-handed relief pitcher Michell Miliano — never have played above Double-A.

Suwinski, 22, hit 15 home runs with 37 RBIs and a .269 batting average this season for Double-A San Antonio. He was the Padres’ 15th-round draft choice in 2016 out of William Howard Taft High School in Chicago.

Born in the Dominican Republic, Miliano, 21, struck out 52 batters in 25 2/3 innings this season for Single-A Lake Elsinore.

The trade still has not been confirmed by either team, pending physical examinations.