Questions about Starling Marte flood any conversation between Mets fans and sportswriters given his health issues in 2023 that led to him plummeting from a borderline All Star level of performance in 2022 to output not suitable for a starter. Ironically his speed was even better last season than in the immediate past, but the various problems he was facing certainly curtailed his value to the Mets.
Spring forward to 2024 and oddly the story remains relatively the same. Folks are looking at his anemic batting average and questioning even if he belongs on the club, let alone to be playing regularly out in right field. Somehow lost in translation was the real story of this preseason tenure for Marte. He is completely healthy. He's playing steadily, running at full speed and working his way back to the level of productivity that made him a headline free agent in the 2021/2022 off-season.
It's amusing to me that Francisco Lindor is hitting .145 yet no one raises a peep about how he's washed up or that he's overpaid or that they need to rush someone from the minors (or use one of the two spare shortstops on the roster going north) to replace him. Obviously such sentiment would be total lunacy, and as such it's understandable that veteran player results in a few weeks in the Spring are not indicative of what that performer is truly capable of doing.
With the extended preseason for J.D. Martinez people are already suggesting that Marte take the DH at-bats to ease him into the steady stream of playing every day. Now if he was having arm or leg issues that were impacting his ability to run and cover in the outfield, I could understand this idea. However, Marte was always among the upper echelon defensively and it seems somewhat odd to suggest keeping him off the field is a wise choice.
The other issue is who would take his place in the outfield? Well, there are a few ways to go here. Tyrone Taylor has impressed everyone with his athleticism and for his Milwaukee part time career he's aggregated roughly two full seasons worth of play which would show 20+ HR power along with decent RBI production. The down side is his career .239 average, though given what the Mets put out there in 2023 a .239 hitter might be an improvement.
The next option would be the likely northbound journey for D.J. Stewart. He is not hitting particularly well this year, but he was a steady performer for several weeks last year. Unfortunately swapping out Marte for Stewart would be an exercise in weakening the outfield defense, so that approach likely is not a good one.
The other obvious thing that could be done is to have Jeff McNeil stationed in one of the outfield positions while the substitute would be either Joey Wendle or Zack Short on the infield. What you'd lose in home run power and RBIs might be offset by solid defense.
In the long run, however, it is smarter to use Starling Marte much like they are using Harrison Bader. Leave him out there for his glove and enjoy whatever he can deliver with his bat. The potential for Marte's offensive output grossly exceeding that of Bader is a bet I'd take right now.
Marte is built and athletic. So was Jose Reyes in his last 2 seasons, so we will have to wait and see what Marte still has left in the tank.
ReplyDeleteI think he'll be just fine.
ReplyDeleteHealth, as usual, will dictate the Mets season
ReplyDeleteRay, I hope so. I was talking about Bobby Bonds this morning with my brother. He was headed for the Hall of Fame through his age 33 season. Age 34 and 35, though? Up 460 times, hit .208 with low power. Age 36? Retired. Age as of Bobby's last game? Just 40 days older than Marte.
ReplyDeleteMarte off to a solid start.
ReplyDelete