Carlos Mendoza said he plans to keep giving Starling Marte playing time despite the lack of production from the outfielder, who entered Sunday night amid another slump.
Marte started at DH, against Yankee left-hander Max Fried, and went 1-for-2 with a strikeout and double — his first extra-base hit since April 29, when hit just his second homer of the season — before being lifted for pinch hitter Brett Baty.
“I’ll continue to give him chances,’’ Mendoza said prior to Sunday’s 8-2 loss. “He’s getting an opportunity today. He’s been an elite player in this game.”
And as the manager has noted previously, Marte is a victim of not playing regularly.
“I feel it’s not an easy role to be in, when you’re used to playing every day and it takes time,’’ Mendoza said. “We have to understand it’s not an easy role to be in, when you’re not getting at-bats every day and you’re only facing lefties or when you get an opportunity as a pinch hitter and it’s usually in a high-leverage [situation] and you’re facing a pretty good arm.”
But Mendoza said some of the underlying numbers are encouraging when it comes to the 36-year-old.
“The ball continues to jump off the bat, the bat speed, it’s there,’’ Mendoza said. “I’m pretty sure he’ll get it going here pretty soon.”
Despite Mendoza’s confidence, Marte’s average exit velocity is down, and he’s hit slightly worse versus lefties (.602 OPS heading into Sunday) than righties (.604).
He’s in the final year of a four-year, $78 million contract, and the Mets shopped him during the offseason.
Not surprisingly, there hasn’t been much of a market for Marte, a player in decline who has battled injuries throughout his time with the Mets.
With Jeff McNeil back and showing an ability to play the outfield again, he can take up a spot — especially against right-handers — and he was in center on Sunday.
And Mendoza insisted it wouldn’t be an issue finding a spot in the lineup going forward, even with Baty showing of late that he’s capable of playing every day and the defensively challenged Mark Vientos perhaps better suited to DH than third base.
“Not at all,” Mendoza said of potentially having a hard time getting Marte in the lineup. “He’s a good player. For us to get to where we want to get, we’re gonna need him. I’ve got to continue to give him at-bats. He’s a good player.”
The results haven’t been there.
Marte is putting up worse numbers against virtually all types of pitches than he did at other points of his career.
He’s played part of just one game in the outfield this season after he missed extensive action last year with a bone bruise in his right knee.
Without Marte in the outfield mix, Brandon Nimmo has been solid in left and Juan Soto an everyday presence in right and Tyrone Taylor a regular in center, where he’s typically flourished defensively.
If Marte can’t play defense, it would seem he doesn’t serve much purpose on the team, especially since he’s struggled against both lefties and righties after hitting both of them well in the past.
