The New York Mets are going for the series sweep of the Miami Marlins Sunday afternoon. In doing so, they are receiving a reinforcement in the form of outfielder Starling Marte. Prior to Sunday’s game, the team announced that Marte was activated from the injured list while outfielder Ben Gamel was designated for assignment. Marte is slated to hit fifth on Sunday and play right field.
Marte last played June 22 against the Chicago Cubs. Since then, he has been sidelined with a right knee bruise. Marte made rehab appearances at three different levels in the organization across six games total. In these six games, Marte went 4-for-18 (.222) with a stolen base and one extra-base hit. He struck out three times.
Prior to injury, Marte was bouncing back in a big way compared to his woeful 2023 season. In 2024, Marte is slashing .278/.329/.416 which is good for a .745 OPS. He has also stolen 12 bases without getting caught. The underlying metrics paint an even better picture than the traditional statistics, as evident by the 97th percentile xBA, 74th percentile xSLG, and 77th percentile hard-hit rate.
Starling Marte. Photo by Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
There is no doubt the defense has been an issue. Despite having an extremely strong arm (93rd percentile), his range has became even more troublesome than it had become in previous seasons. Marte’s negative-nine outs above average is in the league’s first percentile.
As mentioned, in his first game back Sunday, Marte is slated to bat fifth and play right field. J.D. Martinez is being given the day off so Jesse Winker is able to serve as the designated hitter against the right-handed pitcher. One would expect Marte to be in the lineup everyday going forward against left-handed pitchers, however, against right-handed pitchers things get more interesting as Winker has been serving as the right fielder since being acquired.
Is it possible the Mets sacrifice defense on days against right-handed pitchers? For example, will they place Marte in right, Winker in the more familiar left field, and Nimmo in center while Martinez continues to serve as the team’s designated hitter? Whatever manager Carlos Mendoza decides to do, he certainly has options.
As mentioned, Ben Gamel being designated for assignment was the corresponding move. Gamel has gone 5-for-23 across 18 games for the Mets this season. He has a .962 OPS for Triple-A Syracuse this season.
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