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Starling Marte

Mets, Royals Discussed Starling Marte Earlier This Offseason

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The Royals showed interest in Starling Marte earlier in the offseason, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Those talks obviously didn’t produce a deal, but Sherman adds that Kansas City hasn’t completely closed the door on the possibility. There’s no indication talks are active, but it’s nevertheless notable that the Royals are still interested to an extent. It shows that Kansas City is still weighing options to bring in an outfield bat and that they perhaps have some financial flexibility even with a player payroll that’s nearly $20MM north of last year’s spending levels.

Of course, the Royals wouldn’t be taking on the entirety of Marte’s salary in a trade. The 36-year-old is entering the final season of a four-year, $78MM contract and is owed $19.5MM in 2025. Coming off a pedestrian .269/.327/.388 batting line (104 wRC+), Marte is no longer productive enough for another team to have interest in taking on the full freight of his salary. The Mets have reportedly been willing to pay down a portion of that $19.5MM.

Health is another factor to consider. Marte missed the final seven weeks of the 2023 season with a groin strain and was out for nearly two months last summer due to a bone bruise in his right knee. He’s been hobbled by ongoing discomfort in that same knee this spring and has yet to appear in a game. Manager Carlos Mendoza did suggest yesterday that Marte could get into a game within the next few days (link via Newsday’s Tim Healey), but presumably any team looking into the possibility of acquiring him would want to see the veteran outfielder get into a few games to demonstrate that he’s healthy enough to be considered likely for Opening Day.

The Royals’ interest in Marte makes some sense on paper. They’ve been looking for an outfield bat for much of the offseason and have come up empty. The Royals have looked into various trade targets and reportedly made offers to free agents Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar, who instead signed with the Blue Jays and Braves, respectively. Last year’s primary outfield of MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel and Hunter Renfroe was among the least-productive outfield groups in all of MLB. The Royals plan to give trade acquisition Jonathan India and infielder Michael Massey some work in left field this season, but the broad outfield outlook remains bleak if they can’t get a long-awaited Melendez breakout and/or a return to form for the veteran Renfroe.

When the two sides talked earlier in the offseason, per Sherman, the Mets expressed interest in Royals relievers Hunter Harvey and Angel Zerpa. Kansas City understandably didn’t have interest in moving a quality reliever to buy low on an expensive veteran in his mid-30s.

Unless the Mets are willing to take on the second season of a two-year deal for Chris Stratton, who hasn’t panned out as hoped in K.C., it’s hard to envision them prying a member of the Royals’ bullpen away in a Marte swap. Harvey was excellent for much of the 2024 season but struggled in July before landing on the injured list with what proved to be a season-ending back issue in August. He’s being paid $3.7MM this year in his final season of club control. Zerpa isn’t even arb-eligible yet and is controllable through 2028. He posted a 3.86 ERA with a 20.5% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and massive 58.4% grounder rate in 2024. Both are in line to play notable roles for manager Matt Quatraro.

Starling Marte Discusses Trade Talks, Bench Role

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Reports surfaced back in December that the Mets were looking into the possibility of a Starling Marte trade, and were willing to eat some of Marte’s $19.5MM salary.  The Athletic’s Will Sammon reported today that the Mets “did not come especially close to” moving Marte, though some teams did check in about the possibility and some discussions took place.

Marte shared his own take on the process with Sammon, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, and other reporters today at the Mets’ spring camp, revealing that the team was in contact with him about trade possibilities.  “They spoke to me before the [Juan Soto] signing, and then after the signing, they reiterated that they would try to move me,” Marte said.  “They were very clear, very honest with me up front.  They obviously want the best for this team, but also the best for my future.  They were really helpful, and they were really transparent about the situation.”

The Mets have yet to tell Marte whether or not a trade might still happen, Sammon writes, though the possibility looks increasingly less likely now that Spring Training is underway.  As a result, Marte is penciled in for part-time duty at best, slated to mostly work as a backup outfielder and as the team’s DH whenever a left-handed starter is on the mound.  Marte has offered to also chip in as a center fielder, even if he has played just three games at the position in the last three seasons, and with Jose Siri and Tyrone Taylor seemingly having things covered up the middle.

Regardless, Marte’s willingness to return to his old position underscores his desire to help the Mets win, even if he’s receiving less playing time than usual.

“Whenever you’re with a team for the amount of time I’ve been with the team, you get comfortable, you don’t want to get traded because you’ve created relationships with the staff, the players, everybody around here,” Marte said.  “But at the same time, any baseball player would love to play every single day because that’s how a player gets reps, gets better day in and day out.  But at the same time, I’m here and I’m going to do the best I can do.”

While his four-year, $78MM contract is (incredibly) barely a tenth of Soto’s megadeal, it wasn’t long ago that Marte was a prized free agent contract in his own right, joining the Mets in the 2021-22 offseason.  He delivered an All-Star performance in the first year of that deal, even if a fractured finger prematurely ended his regular season and hampered him during the Mets’ playoff run.  The finger issue proved to be a harbinger for the next two seasons, as Marte battled a number of different health issues and played in 180 of a possible 324 games, while hitting .258/.314/.357 with 12 home runs in 711 plate appearances.

Most of those struggles were focused into the 2023 season, as Marte had a more respectable 104 wRC+ in 370 PA in 2024.  As DiComo noted, Marte had some pretty sharp splits last season with the bulk of his production coming against southpaws, so a more specialized role against mostly left-handed pitching could help Marte become an impact bat even in a limited capacity.

Of course, Marte might well earn himself more at-bats the better he hits, or he could get more playing time if injuries strike any of New York’s other outfielders.  To that end, Brandon Nimmo dealt with plantar fasciitis in his left foot for much of the 2024 season, and he told Sammon and Tim Britton that he received a PRP injection to deal with the problem over the offseason.

The early returns in camp are promising, as Nimmo estimated he was moving at 91 percent of his top speed during a running drill on Friday.  The plan is to ramp up relatively slowly during the spring, with Nimmo again planning to wait until the first week of March to start playing in games.  If all goes as expected, Nimmo felt he should be ready for Opening Day.

Mets Willing To Pay Down Salary To Facilitate Starling Marte Trade

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The Mets are open to paying down part of Starling Marte’s contract to facilitate a trade, write Tim Britton and Will Sammon of the Athletic. There’s nothing to suggest a deal is imminent or guaranteed to happen at all, but the Mets could consider the veteran outfielder expandable.

After finalizing the Juan Soto signing, New York has an excellent outfield. Soto and Brandon Nimmo will play the corners. Tyrone Taylor had a nice first season in Queens and projects as the starter in center field. The Mets acquired defensive stalwart Jose Siri from the Rays last month. He’s a quality fourth outfielder who could cut into Taylor’s playing time up the middle.

The Mets don’t necessarily need to trade Marte. They’re willing to pay to stockpile depth under Steve Cohen’s ownership. Yet he’s probably fifth on their outfield depth chart and doesn’t have a great path to playing time. He’s no longer an option in center field at age 36. The Mets probably wouldn’t move Nimmo back to center field to force Marte into the lineup.

An outfield of Marte, Nimmo, and Soto would be limited defensively. The two-time All-Star would essentially be limited to a rotational corner role. He could pick up some at-bats at designated hitter, though the Mets are likely to add a first baseman and may want to leave DH playing time for some combination of Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and (if he’s not traded) Brett Baty. Marte doesn’t have the kind of power teams generally want from their primary DH regardless.

To find a taker, the Mets would need to eat a decent chunk of money. Marte is under contract for $19.5MM in the final season of a four-year free agent pact. If he were a free agent, he’d probably make a little less than half that. He’s coming off a league average .269/.327/.388 showing with seven homers through 370 plate appearances. Marte stole 16 bases in 17 attempts, though his defensive grades in right field have plummeted. His once elite speed is essentially average at this point. A bone bruise in his right knee cost him around seven weeks between June and August.

Marte is probably stretched as a regular, but there are teams that could give him more opportunity than the Mets can offer. Speculatively speaking, the Red Sox may be a fit as they search for a righty-hitting outfielder. The Guardians, Padres, Astros, Royals, Reds and Marte’s old team in Pittsburgh are other teams that could be in the market for corner outfield help.

NL Postseason Notes: McNeil, Marte, Edman, Freeman

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The Mets could potentially get a big boost to their lineup if they advance to the NLCS. Manager Carlos Mendoza revealed to reporters (including Tim Britton of The Athletic) that Jeff McNeil will join the team’s taxi squad today, two days after welcoming his second child. The second baseman/corner outfielder has not played since September 6, when he fractured his right wrist as he pulled back a bunt attempt on a high-and-inside curveball from Reds’ left-hander Brandon Williamson. It’s possible McNeil will be ramped up and ready to play in time for the NLCS, should the Mets win two more games against the Phillies in the NLDS. However, Mendoza made it clear that it’s too soon to offer a definitive timeline for McNeil’s return.

McNeil, 32, got off to a dismal start over the first three months of the 2024 campaign. Then, he turned a corner in July, hitting eight home runs and 15 doubles with an .859 OPS and 140 wRC+ over his final 55 games. The veteran looked much more like the version of himself that won a Silver Slugger and a batting title in 2022. Even if he can’t get back to quite that level of performance, his lefty bat should be a valuable addition to a righty-heavy Mets lineup; he could take over from Jose Iglesias at second base or Starling Marte in right field with a right-handed starting pitcher on the mound.

Speaking of Marte, the 35-year-old outfielder took a Zack Wheeler fastball off his left forearm yesterday. As Britton pointed out, the pitch hit Marte in almost the exact same spot where Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman plunked him with a sinker three weeks earlier. Marte remained in the game yesterday, running the bases and taking a couple more at-bats, but he was removed in the bottom of the eighth amid a flurry of late-game defensive switches and substitutions. There’s no reason to believe he’s nursing anything more than a minor contusion, but it’s possible he could use a day to rest. After Hoffman beaned him in September, Marte took the next game off. He started the game after that on the bench before entering as a pinch hitter.

More notes from the NL postseason teams…

  • Tommy Edman started in center field for the Dodgers last night, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. His most interesting at-bat, however, was the double play he grounded into with runners on the corners in the bottom of the fifth. Facing the right-handed Jeremiah Estrada, the switch-hitting Edman chose to hit from the right side (h/t to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). It was the first time all season Edman attempted to bat right-handed against a right-handed pitcher. To that point, he batted as a lefty against the other two right-handers he faced last night: Dylan Cease and Bryan Hoeing. It was an unconventional, but not entirely unreasonable, choice for Edman, who hit .181 with a .523 OPS and 51 wRC+ in 117 plate appearances as a lefty batter this season. Conversely, he went 14-for-34 (.412) with four home runs, a 1.299 OPS, and a 250 wRC+ in a tiny sample size of plate appearances as a righty. Indeed, Edman has hit better as a righty in every season of his career. However, when he tried batting right-handed against right-handed pitchers on occasion last season, the results were poor. He produced a .665 OPS and 77 wRC+ in 61 trips to the plate. Even worse, he went 0-for-4 batting righty against righties over two games in 2021. It will be worth watching to see if Edman continues this experiment against Estrada or any of the Padres’ other right-handers.
  • Nursing a sprained right ankle, Freddie Freeman’s status was questionable heading into the NLDS. Yet, the Dodgers first baseman played all nine innings of Game 1, going 2-for-5 at the dish. He also stole a base. Later on, Freeman revealed to reporters (including Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic) that he is also dealing with a bone bruise in his ankle. He says the bruise started to bother home around the fourth inning last night. Nevertheless, the famously durable superstar believes he can do it all again today – with the help of the Dodgers training staff. After the game, manager Dave Roberts joked that Freeman was “certainly medicated” (per Rosenthal), while Freeman expressed his gratitude to the training staff for getting him game-ready despite his significant injuries.

NL East Notes: Albies, Marte, Bohm

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11:01am: The Mets told reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com) that Marte’s x-rays came back negative, though he’s out of the lineup due to soreness for today’s game. Meanwhile, the Phillies have activated Bohm from the IL ahead of schedule and will bat him fifth in today’s lineup.

9:15am: The Braves have been without second baseman Ozzie Albies for nearly two months now due to a fractured left wrist, and since then the club has had to rely on veterans like Whit Merrifield and Cavan Biggio who were added following his injury to handle the keystone. While Merrifield has performed admirably in Albies’s absence with a .269/.374/.370 slash line with Atlanta, the club is surely anxious to return the three-time All-Star to the lineup as the Braves fight to remain in a playoff spot with just two weeks to go in the regular season.

When manager Brian Snitker and Albies himself spoke to reporters on Friday about the second baseman’s status, the update was somewhat mixed. Snitker (as relayed by David O’Brien of The Athletic) raised some alarms for Braves fans by saying he wasn’t sure if Albies would play again this year before clarifying that because Albies is still feeling discomfort in his injured wrist only when he bats from the left side, the switch-hitter would be able to return if he was willing to bat from the right side exclusively down the stretch. Per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, Albies is willing to drop switch-hitting for the time being in order to return to the lineup and hopes to be back sometime next week.

Albies, 27, has batted much better while hitting right-handed throughout his career, including this year where he’s posted a 151 wRC+ against left-handed pitching for the Braves compared to an 80 wRC+ against righties. It’s a similar but less extreme story over his career as a whole, as he’s posted a 146 wRC+ while batting right-handed and a 96 wRC+ while batting left-handed. It won’t be the first time Albies has faced right-handed pitching while as a right-handed batter in his career, although his experience in that regard has been limited to just 14 plate appearances throughout his MLB career. With that being said, that extremely small sample size has seen him find a great deal of success as he’s gone 3-for-11 with three walks and two homers in those handful of trips to the plate.

More from around the NL East…

  • The Mets suffered a bit of an injury scare last night when outfielder Starling Marte was struck by a pitch on the forearm from right-hander Jeff Hoffman in last night’s loss to Philadelphia. Marte remained in the game to run the bases and play the outfield, but manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (as relayed by SNY) that the veteran was scheduled to undergo “precautionary” x-rays on his forearm to make sure that the 35-year-old hasn’t suffered a more serious injury. Marte has hit a decent .271/.320/.399 in 83 games with the Mets this year but has struggled a bit at the plate since returning from the IL last month, with a lackluster .241/.286/.328 slash line in 17 games since being activated. If Marte misses time, it seems likely that Jesse Winker will slide into a more regular role with the club down the stretch.
  • The Phillies have been without third baseman Alec Bohm since late August due to a strained hand, but it seems that may change in the coming days as manager Rob Thomson recently told reporters (including The Athletic’s Matt Gelb) that Bohm has “shown progress” in his recovery. He’s currently on a rehab assignment at Triple-A but could be back with the big league club as soon as Monday. The return of Bohm to the starting lineup would provide a huge boost for Philadelphia, as with Edmundo Sosa also on the IL (and, coincidentally, joining Bohm on his Triple-A rehab assignment) the big league club has had to rely on a combination of Kody Clemens, Weston Wilson, and Buddy Kennedy at the hot corner in recent weeks. 2024 has been something of a breakout season for Bohm, who has slashed a strong .290/.343/.462 in 131 games this year.

Mets Activate Starling Marte, Designate Ben Gamel For Assignment

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The Mets have activated veteran outfielder Starling Marte from the 10-day injured list, according to a team announcement. To make room for Marte on the active roster, the club has designated outfielder Ben Gamel for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster now stands at 39.

Marte, 35, is a two-time All-Star and veteran of 13 MLB seasons who first joined the Mets back in 2022. The outfielder’s time in New York got off to a strong start in his first season with the club when he slashed an excellent .292/.347/.468 (134 wRC+) in 505 trips to the plate. That earned him his second career All-Star appearance and even some down-ballot MVP votes, but the good times did not continue until his sophomore season with the Mets as he was plagued by injury woes and struggled to perform even in the 86 games where he was healthy enough to take the field with a lackluster 76 wRC+ thanks in large part to career-worst power numbers.

It was hard to know what to expect from Marte entering the 2024 season after battling groin, migraine, and neck issues the previous year. In terms of results on the field, Marte’s performance has been a clear success as he’s slashed a solid .278/.328/.416 (113 wRC+) while chipping in 12 stolen bases in 66 games. The downside, of course, is that Marte has been limited to just 66 games due to a bone bruise in his knee that sidelined him for nearly two months. Now that he’s once again active, Marte figures to work into a crowded outfield mix that currently features Brandon Nimmo and Jesse Winker in the outfield corners with Harrison Bader in center while Jeff McNeil also vies for occasional starts.

It’s not yet clear just how frequently Marte will start going forward given the strong performances of Bader and Winker this year, although it’s worth noting that Winker has slumped somewhat in 14 games since being dealt to New York by the Nationals. It’s possible that the Mets will use Marte as their usual starter in right field while allowing Winker to mix in to keep the oft-injured veteran fresh, perhaps also kicking Nimmo to center on occasion to get Winker into the lineup more often. At the very least, Marte appears to be a strong bet to make regular starts against lefty pitchers given the fact that Winker and Bader both sport lackluster numbers against southpaws.

Exiting the roster to make room for Marte is Gamel, a 32-year-old outfielder who has now played in parts of nine big league seasons. Initially a tenth-round pick by the Yankees back in 2010, Gamel made his big league debut with the club in 2016 but lasted just six games before being dealt to Seattle. He posted a roughly league average .264/.334/.392 slash line in four seasons as a regular with the Mariners and Brewers from 2017 to 2020 and has subsequently offered similarly average production at the plate while bouncing between Cleveland, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and Queens.

He’s stepped up to the plate just 30 times with the Mets at the big league level this year, posting a .217/.400/.261 in that minimal playing time but paired it with an excellent .314/.423/.539 line at the Triple-A level. With the trade deadline in the rear view mirror, Gamel figures to be placed on waivers in the coming days, where any team will have the opportunity to claim the outfielder and bring him into the fold. If he clears waivers, he’ll have the opportunity to elect free agency and return to the open market in search of an opportunity elsewhere, though it’s also possible he could remain with the Mets as non-roster depth.

Mets Notes: Senga, Marte, Bullpen

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Kodai Senga made his third rehab start yesterday — his second with Triple-A Syracuse — and tossed 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball while building up to 67 pitches. Manager Carlos Mendoza told the Mets beat yesterday that Senga’s next steps are “TBD” (X link via MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo), but the righty is on the cusp of a big league return one way or another. At most, Senga would require one more rehab tune-up, though Mendoza’s comments leave the door open for the right-hander’s next outing to come at the major league level. Newsday’s Tim Healey tweeted before Senga’s outing that the Mets want the right-hander to be able to throw 75 to 80 pitches before activating him.

Senga’s looming return is an obvious boon for a Mets rotation that has pitched quite well over the past month. Going back to June 15, Mets starters have a 3.62 ERA that’s tied with Kansas City for seventh in the majors. Veteran lefties Jose Quintana (2.00 ERA) and Sean Manaea (2.05) have been outstanding in the past 30 days, as has southpaw David Peterson (2.33). Luis Severino hasn’t been nearly as sharp but has been the Mets’ best starter on the season overall, sitting at a 3.78 ERA in a team-leading 109 2/3 frames. Top prospect Christian Scott is getting another look in the big leagues as well and thus far has a 4.36 ERA in 43 1/3 innings.

Adding Senga to that mix will both deepen the group and substantially raise its ceiling. The 2023 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up dominated to a 2.98 ERA and 29.1% strikeout rate in 29 starts last season (166 1/3 innings). A healthy Senga would slot into a theoretical postseason rotation for the Mets — likely starting Game 1 if they had the luxury of qualifying early enough to set their playoff rotation in the order of their choosing. Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Mets are planning to go to a six-man rotation once Senga is ready to return.

The outlook on outfielder Starling Marte isn’t nearly so rosy. The 35-year-old veteran has been out since June 22 due to a bone bruise in his knee, and Mendoza acknowledged just yesterday that Marte’s recovery has been slower than anticipated (X link via DiComo). The Mets are “not sure when he’ll be back,” per Mendoza, who noted that Marte has not yet resumed baseball activities and is not expected to do so in the near future.

Prior to his injury, Marte was in the midst of a strong rebound campaign. He posted a career-worst .248/.301/.324 batting line in 2023 — the second season of a four-year, $78MM contract — but slashed .278/.328/.416 in 66 games/266 plate appearances through the first two-plus months of the current campaign. The seven home runs Marte swatted prior to his current IL trip were two more than the five homers he hit in a larger sample of 86 games and 341 plate appearances last year.

Both Brandon Nimmo and Harrison Bader have been regulars in the outfield, and in Marte’s absence New York has given some extra outfield reps to Jeff McNeil. He’s been joined by Tyrone Taylor, DJ Stewart and Ben Gamel — the latter of whom has primarily been a late-game replacement since coming up from Syracuse (12 plate appearances in nine games).

Depending on how long Marte is expected to miss, adding a bat to that outfield mix could be prudent for a Mets club that has played its way back into Wild Card contention. None of McNeil, Stewart, Taylor or Gamel has been even an average hitter in 2024.

Be that as it may, the Mets remain focused on bullpen help for the time being, per both Sherman and his Post colleague Jon Heyman. The Mets already added one bullpen arm when the effectively purchased veteran righty Phil Maton from the Rays last week, but more moves to address the relief corps will likely be on the horizon, barring a calamitous losing streak that tanks the team’s playoff odds.

Mets Place Starling Marte On Injured List, Select Ben Gamel

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3:05pm: Mets manager Carlos Mendoza says that Marte will be shut down from baseball activities for two weeks and will be sidelines for at least four weeks. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was among those to relay the news on X.

2:20pm: The Mets announced that outfielder Starling Marte has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 23, with a right knee bone bruise. Outfielder Ben Gamel has been selected to take his spot on the roster. The club already had a vacancy on their 40-man, which is now full.

It was reported over the weekend that Marte has been dealing with knee soreness for about three weeks. He has been playing through the ailment and generally performing well, but it seemed to become too much recently. He departed Saturday’s game due to that knee and was set for an MRI on Monday. It’s unclear how long the Mets expect him to be out, but they’ll give him at least another week to rest up.

The knee soreness didn’t seem to be slowing him down much, as he’s currently sporting a line of .278/.328/.416 for the year, production which translates to a 116 wRC+. That includes an excellent .304/.360/.457 showing in the month of June, when the issue cropped up.

It’s been a nice bounceback for Marte, who hit just .248/.301/.324 for a 76 wRC+ last year while dealing with lingering effects of groin surgery. He was back to health and in good form for the first half of this year but will now have to overcome this bone bruise before continuing with his bounceback season.

That’s a loss for the Mets, given how well Marte has been performing. They still have Brandon Nimmo and Harrison Bader in two outfield spots, but Marte’s absence could open up more playing time for DJ Stewart or Tyrone Taylor. Stewart can hit but isn’t a great fielder, while Taylor has been in the inverse position this year.

The 32-year-old Gamel will join the outfield mix alongside those two. He signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason and has been performing very well in Triple-A this year. He has drawn a walk in 16.3% of his 190 plate appearances and has also hit seven home runs. A .400 batting average on balls in play has also helped, with Gamel sporting a line of .314/.423/.538 and 149 wRC+ on the year for Syracuse.

Carrying even a fraction of that to the big leagues would be a nice boost for the club, though it’s a far cry from his career numbers in the big leagues. He has hit .252/.332/.384 in his in his 685 major league games dating back to his 2016 debut, leading to a 96 wRC+. He has been playing all three outfield slots for Syracuse this year and has done so in his major league career, making him a solid fit for a bench role on the big league club while Marte is out.

Gamel has more than five years of major league service time and therefore can’t be optioned without his consent, so he’ll need to be removed from the 40-man if the Mets want to take him off the active roster later in the season.

Mets Notes: Marte, Reid-Foley, Senga

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Starling Marte left Saturday’s 8-1 loss to the Cubs midway through the second inning due to soreness in his right knee, and he will undergo an MRI on Monday to explore what has been a nagging problem for the Mets outfielder.  As MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes, Marte has been battling knee discomfort for about three weeks, with the Mets giving Marte a few extra off-days in that stretch to see if the extra rest could correct the problem.

“I thought we’ve been doing a pretty good job, especially with our communication with him and him being honest with me and all of us,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told DiComo and other reporters.  “That’s why there’s been days where he’s been off when he felt like he could have played….But as of late, that knee continues to bother him. We’ve just got to wait and see what we’re dealing with.”

The Mets don’t play on either Monday or Thursday this week, as they get a pair of off-day sandwiched around their two-game interleague series with the Yankees.  DiComo feels that this relatively light schedule might allow the Mets to put Marte on the 10-day injured list, which would both give him time to fully rest up while sitting out less games than he’d normally have to miss in a fuller schedule.  That said, the Mets could also view these built-in off-days as a chance to let Marte rest without the benefit of an actual IL placement, so he might not have to miss 10 full days’ worth of action.

It seems likely that the club will first wait and see what the MRI says before making a decision, as if tests reveal an actual injury, Marte will obviously have to miss time regardless of any schedule.  Despite the bad knee, Marte’s production hasn’t been slowed down, as he is hitting .304/.360/.457 with one home run over 50 plate appearances in the month of June.  Marte’s hot bat has been one reason the Mets have surged back into the playoff picture, as New York has won 12 of its last 16 games.

Another Met headed for an MRI is Sean Reid-Foley, as the right-hander was placed on the 15-day IL yesterday (retroactive to June 20) due to an impingement in his throwing shoulder.  A similar injury sidelined Reid-Foley at the start of the season and prevented him from making his 2024 debut until April 22.  Talking to the New York Post’s Mike Puma and other reporters yesterday, Reid-Foley described the latest injury as “kind of the same stuff — it’s kind of in the front of the shoulder again.   I don’t have X-ray vision or MRI vision, but I would say it’s probably an impingement.”

Even with these shoulder problems bookending his season, Reid-Foley has been one of the Mets’ best relievers this season, with a 1.66 ERA and a 27.8% strikeout rate over 21 2/3 innings.  A 3.86 SIERA is perhaps a better reflection of Reid-Foley’s production when factoring in his high 15.6% walk rate and the good fortune of his .255 BABIP, especially since Reid-Foley is a grounder specialist (60.8% groundball rate).  Still, that bottom-line 1.66 ERA has still been a big help within an overall inconsistent New York bullpen, so losing Reid-Foley for any length of time is a setback for the club.

In other Mets injury news, Kodai Senga took an important step ahead in his injury rehab, as he had a live batting practice session of 22 pitches today.  Senga is tentatively slated for another live BP later this week, but he’ll first reconvene with the team medical staff in New York.

It has been a long road back for Senga, who hasn’t yet pitched this season since suffering a moderate capsule strain his right shoulder during Spring Training.  He had a live BP session in late April and seemed to be progressing towards a return in late May (once his 60-day IL stint was over), but he then took time to work on some mechanical issues, and then suffered a triceps injury that required a shutdown period and a cortisone shot.

Senga had already been ruled out until after the All-Star break, and considering the amount of ramp-up work it will take for him to be fully ready to pitch, it would seem early-to-mid August might be the earliest we see the right-hander make his 2024 debut.  If the Mets can stick around in the wild card race, getting Senga back would be quite a nice boost to the Amazins’ playoff chances, if he returns at anything close to his 2023 form.

Mets Place Drew Smith On 15-Day Injured List

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Mets manager Carlos Mendoza announced to reporters (including Newsday’s Tim Healey) that right-hander Drew Smith has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation.  Outfielder Starling Marte has also been placed on the bereavement list, so New York has called up both infielder Mark Vientos and right-hander Dedniel Nunez to fill the two open spots on the 26-man.

Since Smith’s MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, the hope is that the righty can be back in the bullpen after just the minimum 15 days.  The Mets’ relief corps has been a strength for the team this season, and Smith has contributed to the cause with a 2.70 ERA over 10 innings and 10 appearances.  His most recent game was last Tuesday, when he allowed two runs in an inning of work during New York’s 5-1 loss to the Giants.

The solid ERA hides some underlying concerns in Smith’s performance, most notably a hefty 14.9% walk rate.  Smith’s walk rate had already taken a sizeable jump from eight percent in 2022 (when he had a 3.33 ERA) to 11.9% last season, when Smith posted a 4.15 ERA over 56 1/3 frames.  On the plus side, Smith has an excellent 24.1% hard-hit ball rate, helping somewhat mitigate the bad luck of a .345 BABIP.  Smith has reincorporated a cutter into his arsenal this year with good results, though batters are having more success against his primary pitch, a four-seamer.

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