Starling Marte latest Met to get a day off
Starling Marte reacts after he struck out swinging to end a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field on Thursday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Starling Marte is the latest struggling Met to get a mental break. Buck Showalter kept him out of the starting lineup for the second day in a row Saturday — the product of an unfavorable matchup, yes, but also because the Mets are trying to stem the spiral that has afflicted large swaths of their roster.
Marte, who hit .265 in June, came into the day with one hit in his last nine at-bats and made a pivotal out on the basepaths in the ninth inning of Friday’s 5-4 loss to the Giants. Pinch running, he was thrown out trying to steal by rookie catcher Patrick Bailey, turning the potential tying run into the second out.
This came a day after Marte helped a fan go viral for the wrong reasons. With the Mets down by one, the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth, a fan on SNY cameras was caught screaming “Don’t swing at everything!’’ at him. Unfortunately for Marte, that plea was punctuated by him swinging through three straight changeups to end the game.
“It’s a combination of things,” Showalter said of the decision to bench Marte for Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Giants. “You think he’s getting some footing and you think he’s going to have a run, but he hasn’t been consistent like he’s been in the past. He’s always been a guy that goes through periods where he doesn’t walk a lot and his pitch recognition might get a little [skewed], but this has been tough for him. It’s been a challenge.”
Marte was 3-for-23 (.130) against Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani, with two walks and six strikeouts. Instead, Showalter opted to move Jeff McNeil to the outfield and play Luis Guillorme at second, with Guillorme batting ninth. (Guillorme came into the day 3-for-4 against DeSclafani but struck out once against him Saturday during an 0-for-3 day.)
All of it is an effort to deal with a ballclub that, this year, has shown a propensity for self-immolation. Daniel Vogelbach got nearly a week off in early June as part of a mental reset. A dour Pete Alonso said after Friday’s loss that this was “the worst month I’ve ever had in the big leagues.”
“I just want to do the best I can to perform, and it just stinks to not be able to perform at a high level and help this team win,” Alonso said. “It’s not fun.”
Showalter said he’s constantly talking to his players and trying to understand what they’re going through. He hopes the upcoming All-Star break will help reset things. He also hopes the mere shift in the calendar will help them move past a disastrous June in which they lost 14 1⁄2 games in the divisional standings.
“It’s frustrating for a guy,” Showalter said of Alonso, who had a pivotal error in the eighth inning Friday. “He’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing and he’s not getting a return for it, and then compound the error last night. You keep hoping that was rock bottom for him and that baseball wouldn’t give them more than they can handle, but it’s cruel.”
He added: “It means so much to these guys, and to see them go through this is painful . . . All a guy can do is hit the ball hard and try to be selective.”
Quintana update
Jose Quintana’s rough rehab start Friday could mean he’ll need at least one more go-around in Syracuse before rejoining the Mets, pushing his return to after the All-Star break. Quintana (rib) threw 64 pitches in 2 2⁄3 innings for Triple-A Syracuse in his fourth rehab start, allowing two runs, four hits and three walks.
“I’m waiting to hear the feedback on what they think,” Showalter said, meaning the Triple-A staff and Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
