New York Mets All-Star Officially Out For The Season
He won't make it back this year after all.
Despite some recent optimism that Starling Marte might be able to return from the injured list on the New York Mets' final home stand, manager Buck Showalter announced to reporters on Wednesday that the outfielder is done for the season.
According to Showalter, Marte was built up for about five innings, but there are no longer minor league games to be played in to fully ramp him up. In addition to this factor, the skipper said the risk wasn't worth the reward of playing him in games as he recovers from his groin injury.
Per Showalter, Marte's groin and core strength looked good, which is a positive.
“He’s shown really good groin and core strength, sprint speed, his hitting metrics were back to his baseline. I feel comfortable we’re going to have a healthy player going forward. He’s just not fully built up to get into games next week and take the risk. And he wants to play, he wants to get back out there, but just wasn’t there."
Marte underwent double groin surgery in the offseason, which affected his play on the field this season. In 86 games, the All-Star hit just .248 with a .625 OPS and -0.8 bWAR.
Marte landed on the injured list in early August, which ultimately was the end of his disappointing season.
The Mets are hoping that Marte will not require another surgery this winter and that he can return fully healthy and productive next season.
Marte will be entering the third year of a four-year, $78 million deal that he signed with the Mets prior to the 2022 season.
