In the offseason before the 2022 season the Mets signed Starling Marte to a four year contract, locking up right field for the foreseeable future. But the last three years have been dominated by injuries, trade rumors, and underwhelming performance. But still, as the Mets creep towards the start of the 2025 season, the final year of Marte’s contract, they still have him penciled in to get starts, mostly at designated hitter.
The first year of the contract was what the Mets had hoped for when they signed him. 118 games played, hitting .292/.347/.468 with a 133 wRC+ and accumulating 3.5 fWAR, earning an All-Star nod in the process. But he missed the end of the season with a fractured finger. He came back for the playoffs but was mostly a non-factor in the 3 games the Mets played before being eliminated.
Last season, Marte looked to get back to normal. And he did improve, in a sense. He played more games, 94 as opposed to 86 in 2023. He improved his line to .269/.327/.388, with a slightly above average 104 wRC+ and 0.6 fWAR. His sprint speed remained the same however, and he became an even worse defender, having an abysmal -8 OAA. It wasn’t the comeback or return to form anyone was hoping for.
And the games played were still a problem. He played more games than 2023 but he still missed close to 70 games. He suffered a right knee bone bruise and was out for nearly 2 months, from the end of June to mid-August. And the injury also demarcated his season performance. In the first half of the season he had a 112 wRC+, but once he came back in the second half he finished out the year with an 83 wRC+. The first half was a serviceable, above average hitter who could offset his poor play in the field. The second half he was compounding poor defense with bad results at the plate, and found himself losing playing time in right field to Tyrone Taylor.
In the final year of Marte’s contract, he has found himself placed in a smaller role following the acquisition of Juan Soto. He is going to be primarily a DH this year, which might help his value because his diminishing fielding won’t be as relied upon. Fangraphs’ ZiPS projection system has him projected to hit .265/.327/.382, with a 103 wRC+ and 1.0 fWAR in 91 games. Their new OOPSY system is lower on him, projecting him to hit .255/.312/.384 with a 99wRC+ and 0.4 fWAR in just 65 games.
Obviously, the new role has an impact on his games played. He’s a DH, but he’ll presumably be sharing that position alongside Jesse Winker who re-signed in the offseason. So he’ll be sharing playing time, and ZiPS’ 91 games played points to that. But OOPSY’s 65 games played could also be them baking in the fact that he’s not very durable and there’s a decent chance he could get hurt again, especially with his injury history over his tenure with the Mets.
In the final year of his four-year contract with the Mets, Starling Marte is looking at a diminished role and playing time in the wake of the signings of Juan Soto and Jesse Winker. After two down seasons, Marte’s reduced playing time will probably be better for him and the team, and hopefully he will be able to provide some utility as one half of a DH platoon. But his recurring injury issues and eroding abilities put him on a razor’s edge of positive contributions.
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