Mets not concerned by Starling Marte's poor spring training
Mets outtielder Starling Marte during a spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday Feb. 28, 2024 in Port St. Lucie FL. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
TAMPA, Fla. — Let’s start with this caveat: Reading too much into spring training statistics is baseball’s version of March madness.
But Starling Marte’s Grapefruit League numbers, on the heels of the worst and most injury-plagued year of his career, were so bad that they merit examination.
Through the exhibition finale Monday, a 3-0 loss to the Yankees, he batted .159 with one extra-base hit and a .427 OPS. He had as many strikeouts as total bases (eight). Only one of his hits was a line drive.
Marte was fine after getting hit in the helmet by Clay Holmes’ breaking ball in the sixth inning, manager Carlos Mendoza said. And heading into Opening Day on Thursday, his Mets bosses don’t seem all that worried about Marte’s output.
“I like what I’m seeing, I like the way he’s moving around,” said Mendoza, who noted that Marte is a DH option, especially before J.D. Martinez joins the team. “It’s go time now.”
Hitting coach Jeremy Barnes said: “I’m sure it’s not the spring training he wanted. I get the numbers. But I anticipate Marte is there when we need him.”
And president of baseball operations David Stearns: “I continue to think with Starling, the most important thing is health. And what we’ve seen is that he’s a healthy player.”
Stearns’ sentiment, echoed by the others, has been the organization’s line since the end of last season. Marte barely played in the second half of 2023, mostly because of a groin issue stemming from surgery during the previous offseason. He didn’t have his legs under him, which impacted his swing, his defense and his running.
Upon arriving at spring training, Marte declared himself fully healthy and ready to be his regular self — the All-Star, top-third-of-the-lineup self he was in 2022, his first season with the Mets.
He recently said he found encouragement during the past few weeks in his performance at the plate, even if the surface-level stats didn’t provide much reason for optimism.
“I’m working hard and hitting the ball hard — outs, but hitting it good,” he said. “Man, I feel good. I haven’t stolen bases yet, but my legs feel good.”
Barnes explained that both objectively (based on the Mets’ internal data) and subjectively (based on what they see and hear), Marte looks much different from a year ago.
“Honestly, in spring training, we kind of go off of how they feel. Are they seeing the ball? Marte’s been laying off some really good pitches,” Barnes said. “He feels good. His process in the cage is good right now.
“We’re seeing some of the things that weren’t there last year back. I’m trusting and leaning on him to where, like, this guy has a track record in the big leagues. If he’s seeing the ball, laying off the pitches and all the stuff is there, when the lights turn on, I’m expecting Marte to show up and be Marte.”
Specifically, Marte’s bat speed is back, Barnes said. Because a hitter’s core and lower half are so important to his swing, when Marte was hurting physically last season, so was his swing.
“The bat speed and the explosiveness wasn’t there,” he said. “It sounds different off his bat right now. We’re seeing it on the exit velocity stuff. He’s hit balls 108, 109 [mph] this spring training in the air, it just didn’t happen to go out. It got caught up in the wind.”
What is plainly improved for Marte, even to the untrained eye: his running. He has looked normal in rightfield. When he doubled Sunday against the Nationals, he was smooth on his way to second base. His two bunt hits — of seven total — were perfectly placed as he cruised down to first.
When the real games start, the Mets expect the good version to show up.
“I just find the positives, keep building on that,” Barnes said, “and let Starling Marte go be Starling Marte.”
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.
