Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Starling Marte may have never started a game in right field for his career but that isn’t stopping the Mets from placing him there this season.

New York gave a glimpse into their lineup this season on Tuesday night with Brandon Nimmo in center and Marte in right field. The two were side-by-side in the batting order as well with Nimmo hitting leadoff and Marte in the No. 2 hole.

Marte played four innings, collecting three at-bats as he ramps up following an oblique injury. The Mets’ new starting right fielder went 1-for-2 with a double, walk, RBI, and a stolen base.

He also scored twice with the red-hot Francisco Lindor batting behind him.

It seems at first glance the Mets are deferring to Nimmo, having him play center and bat leadoff. Marte expressed his desire to play center last week and it could be an attempt by the organization to gain goodwill with Nimmo as he enters the final year of his contract.

But just quick glances show that Nimmo is better than Marte in both areas. As long as they’re healthy expect this to be the norm in 2022.

Defensively, Nimmo ranked in the 86th percentile in outs above average in center last season. Marte ranked 63rd. Nimmo had four defensive runs saved while Marte had negative four defensive runs saved. Advanced metrics also place Nimmo with a better defensive range.

There’s also a debate about who should lead off between the two. Traditional baseball dictates that your fastest player or best base stealer should bat No. 1. Marte led the majors with 47 stolen bases last year.

But a simple look into batting splits make that decision even easier than the defensive one.

Marte batted second 114 times in 2021. He batted five times total at a different lineup position. Meaning his league-leading stolen base total came with a batter in front of him.

Career stats show that Marte is better when batting second. He has a wRC+ of 115 batting second and 104 when batting first. Using tOPS+ which is based on how well a player performs to his average, he has an 84 when batting first (100 is average) and 97 when batting second. It’s even worse when he’s the first batter in a game with a tOPS+ of 64.

Nimmo has a 136 wRC+ batting first and a tOPS+ of 102. His tOPS+ when being the first batter of the game is 102 as well.

By traditional metrics, Nimmo has an on-base percentage of .387 while batting first and Marte has a .323 on-base percentage.

Adding Marte to the Mets lineup has a collateral effect. Lindor gets moved to batting third where he’s slightly better (114 wRC+) than his stats when batting second (110 wRC+). Last season, Lindor struggled mightily when batting second. When batting third in the order Lindor’s strikeout percentage is lower and his batting average raises 30 points from .267 to .298.

Pete Alonso batted cleanup on Tuesday night. That’s the last clear-cut batting order position the Mets have set right now. With both Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar not making the trip, it’s tough to know how Buck Showalter will make up the rest of his lineup.

One thing is clear, the roles Nimmo and Marte will play this season. The stats back it up.