Darwin Marrero

Darwin Otilio Marrero

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.

• Born February 9, 1981 in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Darwin Marrero peaked at AA as a player, then became a coach.

Marrero was 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA for the 1997-1998 Leones del Caracas. He went 1-1 with a 1.85 ERA for the 1998 GCL Expos. He struggled for Caracas that winter at 0-1 with 5 hits, 6 walks and 4 earned runs in 2 2/3 IP. He split the summer of '99 between the Vermont Expos (3-3, 5.28, 74 K in 76 2/3 IP) and Jupiter Hammerheads (2 R in 1 1/3 IP). He had a 1-0, 1.74 record for the 1999-2000 Leones. In 2000, he was with the GCL Expos (1-6, 6.34) and Jupiter (5 R in 1 1/3 IP, 0-1). He tied Brian Almeida, Ryan Ewin, Scott Rice and Danny Sauer for the Gulf Coast League lead in losses and he tied Reggie Rivard for the most earned runs allowed (35). His 12 hit batsmen also led the GCL. He had a 4.15 ERA in three outings for Caracas in 2000-2001.

In the summer of 2001, the right-hander was much better with Vermont (1-0, 3.00) and Jupiter (5-8, 3.67). He allowed one run in 5 2/3 IP for the Leones that winter, his last one in the Venezuelan League. He continued to move up the Montreal Expos chain in 2002, pitching for the Brevard County Manatees (3-2, 3.46) and Harrisburg Senators (6-5, 4.02), walking only 29 in 160 innings. He tied Luis Torres and Cliff Lee for 9th in the Expos chain in wins, led in hits allowed (176), led in homers served up (20) and was second in innings (160, trailing Tim Drew). Unfortunately, the 21-year-old injured his arm and would not pitch regularly again.

Marrero returned to the diamond in 2004 with the GCL Expos (5 R in 1 1/3 IP), Savannah Sand Gnats (1-1, 4.91 in 2 G), Manatees (1-0, 1 R in 8 2/3 IP) and Senators (10.80 ERA in 2 G). He was a player-coach for the independent Les Capitales de Quebec in 2005, going 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA.

Overall, Darwin was 25-28 with a save and a 4.25 ERA in 107 minor league games (81 starts). In 504 1/3 IP, he struck out 365, walked 123 and allowed 534 hits. He was 3 for 24 at the plate with two runs and a RBI. In the Venezuelan League, he had gone 1-2 with a 3.55 ERA in 20 games, all for Caracas.

In 2008 Marrero began a second career as a pitching coach for the independent league Sioux City Explorers. The Explorers staff compiled a league-best ERA, boasted the Pitcher of the Year, and their closer established a new league saves record. Marrero did not return to the Explorers in 2009 and was out of baseball for a few years.

The St. Louis Cardinals hired Marrero in 2013 and he served as the pitching coach for the GCL Cardinals in 2013-2014. He moved up to the State College Spikes for the 2015-2017 seasons. The 2016 Spikes recorded a league-low 1.76 ERA in the New York-Penn League playoffs on their way to capturing the league championship. During the season State College led the league with nine shutouts and had the second fewest runs allowed (285) as a staff. Marrero received another promotion in 2018 to the Springfield Cardinals where he coached through 2022. He was scheduled to return to Springfield as pitching coach in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Marrero reached the top of the Cardinals' minor league system when he coached the Memphis Redbirds in 2023-2024.

In recent years Marrero has also worked in the winter leagues as a pitching coach. He coached the Federales de Chiriquí in the Panamanian League during the 2020/2021 season. In 2023/2024 he started the year coaching Águilas Cibaeñas in the Dominican League, but was fired on November 5th. A month later he was chosen as the new pitching coach for the Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuelan League.

Sources include 2013 Cardinals Media Guide, Purapelota