Mets' Starling Marte has healthy outlook after injuries ruined 2023

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Perhaps more than any other individual, Starling Marte’s past two years have been symbolic of the Mets’ arc overall, the good and the bad and the painful.

In 2022, he was spectacular, an All-Star and a dynamo, a sparkplug near the top of the lineup and a stalwart in rightfield. As the Mets hummed along for five months, he was a huge piece of everything they did. When he disappeared with an injury in that final month, the Mets happened to fall apart.

In 2023, he was a mess — and so was the team. He never really seemed healthy and the Mets never really seemed good. They suffered together. When the club more or less gave up by dealing away key players at the trade deadline, Marte shut down, too, playing in two games after July.

What does that mean for 2024? Can their bellwether of success play like his regular healthy self?

The Mets are “counting on” it, manager Carlos Mendoza said.

“If he does that, we’re going to be in pretty good shape,” Mendoza said. “He’s a huge part of the team. Watching not only in 2022 but going back to when he was with the A’s and the Pirates, this guy is special. This guy can impact the game and help you win in a lot of different ways, whether it’s on defense, baserunning, offensively. He brings a lot to the table. He’s back not only healthy but being the player we all know he can be. He’s going to be a big weapon for us.”

Upon reporting to spring training in recent days, the 35-year-old Marte declared himself healthy and ready for a productive season, which, yes, is about what he said at this time last year. Back then, though, he was coming off an offseason marred by double groin surgery.

Now close to a year and a half removed from that operation, Marte played in 11 games in the Dominican Winter League in January, batting .286 with a .721 OPS. He sought permission from the Mets to do so because, as he told them, “I want to show you guys I’m ready to play.”

What he learned from that experience, he said, was “I’m good.” He was able to get around the field without having to worry about his lower half.

It was a test. He passed.

“It was clear watching him play, he was healthy,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “The game I was at, he had to handle a number of balls down the rightfield line and he got there easily and looked like Starling Marte in the outfield. That was very encouraging.”

Marte said of being hampered last season: “It really affected me mentally. It’s something that I had never gone through in my career, having that type of operation, feeling a little bit more limited. They sent me to all these different programs, all these different training places. Now the reason why I do feel so much better is because they did send me to those places. So now I feel 100%.”

Marte will have the green light on the bases, according to Mendoza. Steals long have been a big part of his game, and he tallied 24 in his half-season last year, hampered and all. He swiped a majors-leading 47 in 2021 before signing his four-year, $78 million deal with the Mets.

“This is a guy that everybody in the league knows is going to be looking to run a lot,” Mendoza said.

The Mets do have backup plans in case Marte isn’t quite as healthy as he seems.

Mendoza mentioned mixing in an occasional game at DH to help limit his workload (though Marte expressed a strong preference to not serve in that role regularly). The organizational depth chart for rightfield includes Tyrone Taylor, DJ Stewart and Drew Gilbert, one of their top prospects.

Plan A, though, is a normal, productive Marte.

“I feel like I can play 170 games,” he said. “Everybody knows how hard I play . . . I have to show now how ready I am. That’s what I’m doing now.”

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.