Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Starling Marte was forced to leave in the early innings of the Mets’ series opener against the Pirates in Pittsburgh at PNC Arena on Tuesday.
The veteran outfielder took a 96 mph fastball from Mitch Keller to the hand in the first inning. Following consultation with manager Buck Showalter and trainer Joe Golia, Marte stayed in the game. However, he left the game just an inning and a half later after appearing to be in some discomfort.
Tyler Naquin shifted over to right field, and the Mets will have to hope that it is nothing serious because losing Marte for any length of time would be a crushing blow at this stage of the season. Marte is slashing .292/.345/.468 with 16 home runs, 24 doubles, 5 triples, 18 stolen bases, 63 RBI and an .813 OPS.
We will wait to find out more about Marte’s status after the game.
Interestingly, highly-regarded prospect Mark Vientos was scratched from the Syracuse Mets lineup on Tuesday. Should Marte have to make a trip to the IL, then it could mean a long-awaited call-up for Vientos who has been mashing in the minors. Through 98 games in Triple-A, he is slashing .280/.357/.518/.875 with 23 home runs and 71 RBI.
Update: Joel Sherman says Vientos was scratched due to headaches, not because of an imminent call up.
