What can the Mets expect out of Starling Marte in 2025?
Written by Dalton Allison
With Juan Soto set to patrol right field at Citi Field for the foreseeable future, it immediately puts Starling Marte in the position of not having a position. Defensively, that might be a benefit for the New York Mets, as since he has signed with the Mets he has been a poor defender. In fact, he has not produced an OAA better than -1 since he has signed with the team, producing an abysmal -8 mark in the 2024 season. That seems hard to do, considering Marte only cracked the lineup 94 times last season, and played the outfield 83 times. Marte has unfortunately been bitten by the injury bug the past two seasons, limiting the impact that he is able to bring to the table. When healthy, Marte still can be a positive presence in the Mets lineup, and he should figure to bounce back in his final season of his four-year deal with the Mets.
With Jesse Winker inking a one-year deal with the Mets on Thursday, there are going to be plenty of thought pieces out there on the impact that it will have on the team’s pursuit of Pete Alonso. What many people might not realize is that the biggest winner (outside of the fans who will now be entertained by the duo of Winker and Jose Siri) from this situation is actually Starling Marte. Winker will be slotted in at the DH spot when the Mets are set to face a right-handed starter. This will be no surprise, as his OPS was above average when facing righties, something Marte struggled with mightily last season. Against righties, Winker produced an OPS of .788, compared to Marte’s .659 last season.
The opposite can be said for matchups against left-handed pitchers. It was Marte who is the superior hitter against lefties with a stellar .844 OPS, compared to Winker’s .674 mark. To be able to have this veteran platoon, versus one central DH last season, gives manager Carlos Mendoza a lot of flexibility as each game progresses. Should Winker and Marte each stay healthy, they could prove to be a true dynamic duo at DH.
Another reason that Marte can still bring value as a platoon player is that some of his underlying advanced metrics don’t show a decline in his ability to make solid contact. Last season, he was in the 94th percentile of expected batting average, and he actually produced the highest exit velocity of his career last season according to Baseball Savant. When aging players start to break down and produce less, the signs usually show in the way that they’re making hard contact with the ball. What Marte’s signs are showing is that his ability to hit the ball and make great contact is not in decline, but that he just needs to stay in the lineup.
Perhaps getting Marte out of right field and just into the DH slot will help him stay healthy and fresh. If he needs to plug into right field, perhaps to spell Soto occasionally, that should be fine, but the Mets can’t consistently run him out onto the field and expect him to stay healthy. Funny enough, while the Mets corner trio of Marte, Winker, and Soto do not patrol right field well collectively as a group, they each possess the ability to nail a baserunner with elite arm talent. All three of them possess arm strength in the 90th percentile, with Winker’s arm settling in the 97th percentile. It might be safe to say the Mets will be able to throw runners out from right field this season.
When Marte is more fresh, he may also be able to help the Mets out on the basepaths as well. Although he is not as fast as he used to be, Marte is still incredibly advantageous when he gets on base. Fresh legs should help him with speed, so if Marte is able to be in the right platoon, expect his impact on base to go up.
Should the Mets have to make as many concessions as listed above to make what will be a $20 million platoon player successful? Most would say no. However, the Mets and David Stearns must work with what they have on the books. Marte, when healthy, has truly been a cog in the engine of a successful Mets lineup. There is no reason to believe that he should not be able to bring the same production to the table in 2025, but at a healthier level because he will be in the field less.
I had heard that the Mets told Marte they would look to ship him off so he could increase his playing time in a crucial walk year. If he hopes to land a new contract next year then he should want to play everyday to show he still has what it takes.
But assuming he is with the Mets for 2025, I like him at DH across from Winker. Marte had one of the more clutch bats during the postseason and he was often on the base path in some of the most clutch moments.
Marte's on the team so you might as well try to get some use out of him. The short side of a DH platoon is about the smallest role a guy can have outside of backup catcher.
He was very productive versus LHP last year. He also had a .397 BABIP against them, which he's unlikely to duplicate.
In an ideal world, they'd trade him, even if that meant picking up most of his salary. But it's probably more trouble to find a deal than it's worth. I'll keep my fingers crossed that he can give 200 or so PA at a league-average rate with the platoon advantage. And then we won't have to worry about him in 2026 and beyond.