Starling Marte has been below-average runner this season
Mets centerfielder Brandon Nimmo, left, and rightfielder Starling Marte cannot catch a fly ball hit by the Nationals' Jeimer Candelario for a triple during the seventh inning of a game at Nationals Park on Monday in Washington. Credit: AP/Alex Brandon
WASHINGTON — Starling Marte, whose All-Star skill set has relied heavily on his legs during more than a decade in the majors, has experienced such a decline in his foot speed this season that he has ranked as a below-average runner, according to data tracked and made public by MLB.
His sprint speed through the weekend was 26.7 feet per second. That was down from 28.0 feet per second last year, which was down from 28.4 in the two seasons before that.
Across the majors, an average sprint speed is considered 27.0.
“I don’t feel that,” Marte, 34, said through an interpreter. “I feel good. I feel like I’m running the same I’ve always ran.”
Even when he looked smooth scoring from first on Mark Canha’s double on Sunday, for example, he maxed out at 27.5 feet per second, below his mark from last year.
Manager Buck Showalter said the Mets’ internal measures have Marte as being slower, but not by as much as MLB’s numbers.
“We’re aware of that,” he said. “Keep in mind this guy had pretty extensive surgery in the offseason. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer for that to get back. I like the way he’s been swinging the bat lately. I think it’s on the uptick. I hope so.”
Sprint speed is a foot speed metric that MLB defines as “feet per second in a player’s fastest one-second window,” usually selected from plays in which a player is running multiple bases. It is available on the league’s Statcast website, baseballsavant.com.
Among the players who have been faster than Marte this year: the Phillies’ Nick Castellanos, a fellow rightfielder, and the Cardinals’ Willson Contreras, a 31-year-old catcher. He has been slightly ahead of the Twins’ Joey Gallo.
In a Mets context, Marte has been a little slower than Brett Baty and Tommy Pham and a little faster than Francisco Alvarez and Eduardo Escobar.
Brandon Nimmo is the team’s fastest runner with a sprint speed of 28.3 feet per second. The slowest: Luis Guillorme (23.8), who has been getting edged by Daniel Vogelbach (23.9).
Like Showalter, outfield/ baserunning coach Wayne Kirby pointed to the double groin surgery Marte had in November. That left him barely able to walk at the start of the offseason and behind most of the rest of the position players during spring training. Given the sometimes chilly early-season weather, Kirby said, Marte hasn’t been able to get as loose as he’d like for some games.
“That’s normal for any player,” Marte said. “There’s some days you wake up and it feels a little tighter. And there are other days you feel like you can move it around and it starts to loosen up and you feel better. It’s like that for any player.”
The slower running has coincided with a poor start at the plate. After going 2-for-4 Monday — the last game of a road trip during which he showed signs of turning it around — Marte is hitting .243 with a .304 OBP and .294 slugging percentage.
Minors details
Mark Vientos, repeating Triple-A after a strong showing there last year, has slashed .331/.416/.677 with 12 homers and 35 RBIs in 37 games with Syracuse.
“He’s doing fine,” Showalter said. “He needs to master that level. He’s getting a chance to play third base a lot with Brett [Baty] not there. Hopefully he’s improving there.”
Extra bases
Dropped to seventh in the batting order against a lefthanded starter, Jeff McNeil went 2-for-4 with four batted balls hit at 100 mph or harder. He entered the game with a .204/.228/.259 slash line in the previous two weeks . . . Jose Peroza, a 22-year-old infielder, was named the Double-A Eastern League player of the week. He hit .407 with a 1.335 OPS . . . Showalter on the Nationals scheduling an ostensible getaway-day game for 4 p.m.: “They don’t care what I think. They really don’t. We’re carnies. Put the tent up. Go to the next town.”
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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.
