After bringing stability, Marlins see big year from Marte. Plus plans for Sixto Sanchez
He’s the Miami Marlins’ most experienced player, a veteran of 1,014 MLB games over nine big-league seasons. He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner, a one-time All-Star and has the tools to impact every facet of the game.
But Starling Marte has not been a headliner since he was acquired at the trade deadline last season. That’s fine.
The Marlins understand exactly what they have with their center fielder as they get set to open the 2021 season Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“That pickup last year was huge for us,” manager Don Mattingly said. “It solidified our lineup, gave us some stability up through the middle of the field. A guy that’s just a quality player.”
Just how much stability has he brought? Consider this:
▪ Marte started 27 of his 30 regular-season games with Miami in center field. From the start of the 2019 season to the Marlins acquiring Marte from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 31, 2020, Miami had used 11 different players in center field during the course of 192 games. Outside of Lewis Brinson (58 starts), no one started more than 26 games at the spot. The revolving carousel of center fielders included JT Riddle (26 starts), Jon Berti (22), Cesar Peullo (19), Harold Ramirez (19), Magneuris Sierra (17), Rosell Herrera (10), Isaac Galloway (10), Monte Harrison (nine), Jonathan Villar (one), and Yadiel Rivera (one).
▪ Marte batted second in all 27 games he started for the Marlins, the only player to start every game in the same spot in the batting order. Prior to Marte’s arrival, Mattingly primarily used Berti and Jesus Aguilar in the two hole. Aguilar moved down to No. 3 in the lineup after Marte’s arrival. Berti batted leadoff against left-handed hitters and in the bottom third of the order against righties.
And while the stability is nice, Marte’s track record for production is nicer.
He’s a career .287 hitter with a knack for power (114 home runs, 363 total career extra-base hits) and rarely strikes out (18.1 percent during the past six seasons, three percentage points below the league average of 21.1 percent).
He has 249 career stolen bases and had seven consecutive seasons with at least 20 swipes before stealing just 10 during the shortened 2020 season. His sprint speed has ranked in the top 15 percentile of baseball each of the past six seasons.
He made his presence in Miami known immediately, belting a go-ahead home run in a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays as part of his Marlins debut. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Marte was the second player in Marlins history to hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning or later in his Marlins debut. The other: Miguel Cabrera’s two-run walkoff home run against Tampa Bay’s Al Levine on June 20, 2003.
And he’s a solid defender, winning Gold Glove Awards in 2015 and 2016. He ranked in the 95th percentile of outfielders last season with five outs above average, according to Statcast.
“I think everybody knows he’s a really good baserunner and a guy that gets on base and does a lot of things,” Mattingly said, “but that defense really is underappreciated.”
But Marte, while typically a reserved personality, wants his impact to be felt off the field as well as on it.
“It’s a different perspective, [but I can contribute] not only on the field but also inside the clubhouse,” Marte said earlier this spring. “I try to push my teammates and make sure they’re relaxed. But I consider myself a clutch hitter. I can hit a single, home run, and also steal some bases. I can help the team in many ways.”
Roster updates
While the Marlins have until noon Thursday to finalize their Opening Day roster, a few of their final decisions are starting to trickle in.
Sources told the Miami Herald that starting pitcher Sixto Sanchez, the team’s top prospect and a consensus top-25 prospect in baseball, will start the season at the club’s alternate training site. It’s not necessarily a surprising move, given Sanchez pitched just eight innings in Grapefruit League games during spring training and dealt with a pair of setbacks — first a visa issue and then a false positive COVID-19 test — early in camp. Plus, he’s going to be on an innings limit. The thought process is to make sure he’s 100 percent ready when he makes his first start this season.
This also points to the Marlins likely opening the season with a four-man starting rotation. Miami has two off days during the first nine days of the regular season and three in the first 19, giving them flexibility to only need a fifth starting pitcher once in the first four turns.
Meanwhile, both of the team’s relief pitchers who have Rule 5 restrictions — Zach Pop and Paul Campbell — will be on the club. A source also said reliever Anthony Bender, a nonroster invite to camp who impressed during spring training, will begin the season at the alternate training site.
The Marlins on Monday night also announced they traded reliever James Hoyt, who they originally acquired following their COVID-19 outbreak at the start of the 2020 season, to the Los Angeles Angels.
Versatility for Isan Diaz
Mattingly said Monday morning that Isan Diaz, who will begin the season at the alternate training site and then in Triple A Jacksonville, will receive some reps at third base while still focusing on his role as a second baseman.
Miami Herald senior baseball contributor Craig Mish contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 11:10 AM.
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