Martin Prado

Martin Manuel Prado

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut April 23, 2006
• Final Game September 29, 2019
• Born October 27, 1983 in Maracay, Aragua, Venezuela

BR page

Biographical Information

Martin Prado made his major league debut in 2006 with the Atlanta Braves, playing in 24 games with a batting average of .262.

Born in Venezuela, he was signed as an amateur free agent by scout Rolando Petit in 2001. He played for the DSL Braves 2 in 2001-2002, then spent 2003 to 2006 in the US minor leagues in the Braves organization, hitting at least .278 at each stop, with a high of .315. He doesn't have a lot of power: his .405 slugging percentage at the major league level was almost as high as his best minor league percentage. In 2004, he was an All-Star in the South Atlantic League.

He was 22 years old when he made his major league debut. He played mostly second base in the minors, but in the majors split his games between second base and third base.

He hit a triple on the day that he made his major league debut, and hit his first major league home run in September of 2006. He played in the 2006-2007 Venezuelan Winter League. Prado won the International League All-Star nod at second base in 2007.

He was a part-time player for the Braves in 2007 and 2008, then got a lot more playing time in 2009, when he hit .307 in 450 at-bats. In 2010, he was among the National League's leading hitters for average for most of the season, earning a berth to play in the All-Star Game and finishing the year again with a .307 average, in 599 at-bats. He was injured late in the year however, and missed the postseason. He was moved to the outfield in 2011, after the Braves acquired Dan Uggla to play second base, and fell to .260 in 129 games as the Braves' left fielder. He played mainly left field in 2012, getting into a career-high 156 games during which he hit .301/.359/.438 with 42 doubles, 81 runs scored and 70 RBI. He then went 1 for 5 in the National League Wild Card Game which the Braves lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3.

Early in 2013, Prado was named to the Venezuelan national team for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He was their top offensive performer in a disappointing 1-2 tournament, going 5 for 11 with 2 walks, 3 doubles, 2 runs and 2 RBI. He tied for 4th in the event in doubles, one behind co-leaders Nelson Cruz, Carlos Beltrán and Robinson Canó.

On January 24th, he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks along with Ps Randall Delgado and Zeke Spruill and IFs Nick Ahmed and Brandon Drury in return for OF Justin Upton and 3B Chris Johnson. On January 31st, he signed a four-year contract with his new team, for a total of $40 million. He was having a season that was generally under the radar until he burst out in August, winning the National League Player of the Month Award that month. He led the circuit with 30 RBIs that month and 43 hits, had 65 total bases, hitting .375/.425/.565 and scoring 19 runs in a tremendous all-around performance. He ended up hitting .282 in 155 games with 36 doubles and 14 homers, 70 runs scored and 82 RBIs. In 2014, he hit .270 in 106 games for the D-Backs, then on July 31st was traded to the New York Yankees in return for catching prospect Peter O'Brien. In 37 games, he hit .316 with 7 homers and 16 RBIs. On December 19th, he was traded again, this time to the Miami Marlins along with P David Phelps in return for P Nate Eovaldi, 1B Garrett Jones and Domingo German.

Playing for the Miami Marlins in 2016, he received the distinction of being asked by manager Don Mattingly to be the team's acting manager on the final day of the season, October 2nd. The Marlins had been eliminated form playoff contention, and their game against the Washington Nationals had no bearing on the postseason picture. The game was a wild one, with the Marlins losing, 10-7, as Max Scherzer won his 20th game of the year for the Nats. On September 29th, 2019, Prado hit his 100th career home run and later left the game to a standing ovation in what turned out to be his final MLB game. Prado announced his retirement as a player a few weeks later.

Notable Achievements

• NL All-Star (2010)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (2010)

Related Sites

• Martin Prado on mlb.com