The Bucs put out a lineup card that didn't include Starling Marte and had a locker set up for Brent Morel, making it kinda obvious that Marte was going on the DL, and that was confirmed at gametime; he's on the seven day DL.
We thought the Pirates pooh-pooh'ed his Friday night beaning rather nonchalantly.You'd think the Bucs would do a little better - OK, a lot better - job of protecting their assets. There's really no excuse for him not have been on the seven-day concussion DL from the get-go.
To have played him on Monday and then have him unavailable the next day...well, we'd have to think the medical protocols could use some fine tuning. It may very well be, and in fact likely, that Starling wasn't complaining of symptoms, but it's up to the team, not the player, to make the call.
Morel, 27, has parts of five seasons in the show with the Bucs and White Sox, getting an early call from Pittsburgh this season and going 0-for-1 in his only at bat. His lifetime BA is .229 with 13 homers in 670 PA. He was hitting .246 with three long balls at Indy. The righty has seen a little action at first and second, but the vast majority of his minor league time has been at the hot corner.
We'rte a bit surprised that Jaff Decker or Andrew Lambo didn't get the call; both are on the 40-man roster and have a stick. With Morel and Michael Martinez on the bench, there's not a whole lot of wood for Clint to call on.
Showing posts with label starling marte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label starling marte. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Starling Marte's Deal: Figures, Facts, Sidebars...
Starling Marte's contract:
- The Starling Marte deal is for $31M over 6 years with two club options.That covers his arb years and at least one FA season. If the options are exercised, he'll be a Bucco thru 2021. It took some effort; this contract took three offers before Starling OK'ed it. The final figures, per CBS' Jon Heyman: $2M signing bonus. salaries of 500K, $1M, $3M, $5M, $7.5M, $10M with a $2M buyout. The options could reach $12.M, $13.5M.
- Both sides rolled the dice a bit: Marte, 25, has less than two seasons in the league and a small sample size to work with. He also has injury problems caused by 100% play on the field (he still wears his "oven mitt") and ball magnetism at the dish. But in 2013, he hit .280 with 12 home runs, 41 stolen bases and owned left field, saving 22 runs with just his glove and has a 5.7 WAR in 182 games as a Pirate.
- BTW, he was scratched from the lineup yesterday not because of any injuries, but so he could take his physical for the contract. He's leading off today.
- Marte signed with Rene Gayo and the Pirates out of the Dominican Republic for $85,000 in 2007. That may have been an even better deal.
- The cost certainty allows the Pirates to budget for the future more efficiently and gives the lineup some stability over time. Cutch, Charlie Morton and now Marte are tied up, so the FO looks like it's identifying its core contributors (tho they may want a mulligan on Jose Tabata) and trying to keep them home.
- Don't look for Pedro to ink a deal. Scott Boras takes his guys to free agency, and Pedro will almost surely take home a much bigger pile of loot from the market than the Pirates. The same holds true for Gerrit Cole, who with El Toro is one of the two guys the Bucs would love to sign long-term.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Starling Marte Edition
Ah, let's take ten from the snow shoveling with a hot toddy and the warm thought of Starling Marté roaming left field:
- Tom Singer of MLB.com has a couple of notes on Starling Marté: First, he's had an extremely busy year. From Pirate City to Escogido, his Dominican Winter League team, he played 199 games. Good thing he gets a couple of weeks off before camp. And Singer added that last season Marté "...admitted foolishly trying to play through an injured right oblique, an injury he kept quiet. After confessing and recovering (he did eventually go on the DL in August for three weeks), Marté returned to hit .305 over his final 19 games."
- Bill James projects Marté to hit .297/.336/.479 with 15 HR, 64 RBI, 82 runs and 31 stolen bases in 2013. ZIPS has him at .264/.310/.428 with 11 homers, 68 RBI, 74 runs and 24 stolen sacks.
- John Sickels isn't sold on him. "So far, Marté is exactly the player we should expect him to be based on his scouting reports and track record: physically talented, exciting to watch, a fine defender, but with significant flaws that crimp his offensive value. My take is that Marté will scuffle along for another year or two at his current level of inadequate offensive performance (.247/.293/.403 in 2012), then make some adjustments and have a run as a solid hitter in his late 20s."
- Marté was the third player in Pirates' franchise history to go long in his first at-bat and the first to do it since Don Leppert in 1961. He also became the first Pirate to homer off the first pitch of his major league career since Walter Mueller in 1922, and the 13th MLB player overall to manage that feat. If your memory needs refreshed, Marté did it against Dallas Keuchel at Houston on July 25th.
- The last NL outfield to have Gold Glovers in left and center was Pittsburgh, with the Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke patrolling TRS's pasture from 1990-92. Singer speculates that Marté and Cutch could be the next pair.
- Marté had a great DWL campaign for league champions Leones del Escogido. In 11 postseason games, Marté batted .422 overall, winning the Playoff MVP Award, and hit .304 in 29 regular-season games.
- 2011 was his breakout year. While playing for the Altoona Curve, Marté was an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star and Post-Season All-Star, a Baseball America AA All-Star, a Topps AA All-Star, and a Milb.com organization All-Star. On August 15, 2011, Marté was named the EL's player of the week. Marté also won the Eastern League Batting Title with a .332 batting average and was named the Eastern League Rookie of the Year. He played in the 2011 All-Star Futures Game. Marté was added to the Pirates 40 man roster on November 18th, 2011. His prospect status soared, and he was ranked #73 on Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects list and #56 on Baseball Prospectus's Top 101 Prospect list, both released in early 2012.
- Starling Marté was the first graduate of the Pirates' Latin American complex, located in the Dominican Republic, to reach the major leagues. Latin American scouting director Rene Gayo signed Marté in 2007 to an $85,000 bonus.
- "The player I've always looked up to was Vladimir Guerrero. I followed him, and he's the type of player I wanted to grow up to be," Marté told MLB.com.
- He grew up in Santo Domingo, and was raised by his grandma after his mom passed away when he was ten.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
The Young Guns - Starling Marté
Starling Marté grew up outside Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. His mother died when he was 10 and he was raised by his grandma. She brought him up right. Starling became a pretty decent ballplayer, modeling himself after Vlad Guerrero, and signed with the Pirates as a teen in 2007 for $85,000.
After a couple of seasons in the Dominican League, Marté got the call to come stateside. The 20 year old zipped through the levels, starting at the Gulf Coast Rookie League, moving to Low A West Virginia, and then getting a cup of coffee at High A Lynchburg. The plan was to get him some playoff experience with the Hillcats, but a sprained ankle during his first game killed that idea. He hit a combined .309 at his stops with 24 swiped sacks
Marté started 2010 in extended spring training for some work, then joined the High A Bradenton Marauders, where he played in 60 games and hit .315 with 22 stolen bases. He missed a big piece of the season with a wrist injury, having hamate surgery in May and not returning to action until August.
He moved to Altoona the following season. In mid-year, Marté made the cut to play in the All-Star Futures Game, where he hit leadoff and went 1-for-3. He won the Eastern League batting title with a .332 batting average and was selected to both the mid and post season All-Star teams while named the EL Rookie of the Year. He also had an OBP of .370 and a slugging % of .500 with 12 HR as his wrist was back to normal, he bulked up some and was a bit less free-swinging.
Marté was a Baseball America AA All-Star, a Topps AA All-Star, and a Milb.com organization All-Star. Not too surprisingly, he was added to the Pirates 40 man roster on November 18th, 2011. Going into the 2012 campaign, Marté was ranked # 73 by Baseball America, #56 by Baseball Prospectus and #32 by mlb.com on their prospect lists.
The Dominican was promoted to Indy, where he hit .286 in 99 games, and went through and recovered from a couple of slumps, apparently satisfying the FO that he could deal with adversity, part of their call-up punchlist. His OBP remained good at .347 and he hit 12 more homers with a slugging % of .500 again.
On July 26th, 2012, Marté was promoted from the Indians to the big club, becoming the first graduate of the Pirates' Dominican Latin American Baseball Academy to reach the show. No one was quite sure if he'd debut in Pittsburgh. Beside the brass' reluctance to rush him, Marté was such a hot prospect that he was rumored to be in play during discussions for Justin Upton, Hunter Pence and Shin-Soo Choo before the deadline. But he made Bucco fans forget about hot stove rumors in a hurry.
Marté drilled a home run on the first pitch he was served, a fastball from the Astros' Dallas Keuchel. He became the third player in club history to homer in his first big league at-bat and the first since Don Leppert in 1961. Marté was the first Pirate to homer on the first MLB pitch of his major league career since Walter Mueller did it 1922, and just the 28th player in MLB history to perform the feat.
He was batting .253 with four homers in 101 PA before he felt a tweak. On August 19th, he went on the DL with an oblique issue and returned September 7th. He started 17 games after his return, hitting .264. Marté's first MLB slash was .257/.300/.437 with five HR, 17 RBI, 18 runs and 12 SB in 17 attempts (71%) with an OPS of 104 in 182 PA. In the field, he ended up with an UZR of 6.3, the best of any Bucco OF'er, with 3 assists.
For Pirate fans, he was the most heralded rookie call up since Cutch, and the Bucs tout his four-tool package. But while the homies are willing to be patient with him, other baseball guys see a darker cloud.
John Sickel wrote in his Prospect Preview that "...So far, Marte is exactly the player we should expect him to be based on his scouting reports and track record: physically talented, exciting to watch, a fine defender, but with significant flaws that crimp his offensive value. He...still has time to work his problems out, but there is no guarantee that he will. Many similar players have failed. My take is that Marte will scuffle along for another year or two at his current level of inadequate offensive performance, then make some adjustments and have a run as a solid hitter in his late 20s..."
The flaws Sickel referred to can be boiled down to one major deficiency - plate discipline. Marté fanned 50 times, and that's a 27% K rate, tolerable for Pedro but not for a guy who the Pirates hope to pencil in at the top of the order. He hit leadoff or in the two hole for all but seven pinch-hitting or late inning sub appearances for Pittsburgh. Marté walked just eight times, a 4% rate, the same as Clint Barmes and the result was a disappointing .300 OBP.
We're not as hard on him as is Sickels. Marté had lots of trouble with off speed stuff, but he also has a history of improving his pitch recognition over time; we'll see if that holds true at the MLB level. He showed enough power - he had the best slugging % of any Buc outfielder not named Cutch or Jones - and proved he's a threat on the bases and can cover some ground in left. He should only improve in those areas.
While we thought the Bucs could have called him up sooner, he does only have 99 AAA games under his belt and 129 at AA. 2013 should be his first full season playing cat-and-mouse with MLB pitchers, and we'd expect some rough sailing and inconsistency. But from what we've seen, Marté is a keeper. The only question in our mind is whether he will ever become a top of the order hitter.
After a couple of seasons in the Dominican League, Marté got the call to come stateside. The 20 year old zipped through the levels, starting at the Gulf Coast Rookie League, moving to Low A West Virginia, and then getting a cup of coffee at High A Lynchburg. The plan was to get him some playoff experience with the Hillcats, but a sprained ankle during his first game killed that idea. He hit a combined .309 at his stops with 24 swiped sacks
Marté started 2010 in extended spring training for some work, then joined the High A Bradenton Marauders, where he played in 60 games and hit .315 with 22 stolen bases. He missed a big piece of the season with a wrist injury, having hamate surgery in May and not returning to action until August.
He moved to Altoona the following season. In mid-year, Marté made the cut to play in the All-Star Futures Game, where he hit leadoff and went 1-for-3. He won the Eastern League batting title with a .332 batting average and was selected to both the mid and post season All-Star teams while named the EL Rookie of the Year. He also had an OBP of .370 and a slugging % of .500 with 12 HR as his wrist was back to normal, he bulked up some and was a bit less free-swinging.
Marté was a Baseball America AA All-Star, a Topps AA All-Star, and a Milb.com organization All-Star. Not too surprisingly, he was added to the Pirates 40 man roster on November 18th, 2011. Going into the 2012 campaign, Marté was ranked # 73 by Baseball America, #56 by Baseball Prospectus and #32 by mlb.com on their prospect lists.
The Dominican was promoted to Indy, where he hit .286 in 99 games, and went through and recovered from a couple of slumps, apparently satisfying the FO that he could deal with adversity, part of their call-up punchlist. His OBP remained good at .347 and he hit 12 more homers with a slugging % of .500 again.
On July 26th, 2012, Marté was promoted from the Indians to the big club, becoming the first graduate of the Pirates' Dominican Latin American Baseball Academy to reach the show. No one was quite sure if he'd debut in Pittsburgh. Beside the brass' reluctance to rush him, Marté was such a hot prospect that he was rumored to be in play during discussions for Justin Upton, Hunter Pence and Shin-Soo Choo before the deadline. But he made Bucco fans forget about hot stove rumors in a hurry.
Marté drilled a home run on the first pitch he was served, a fastball from the Astros' Dallas Keuchel. He became the third player in club history to homer in his first big league at-bat and the first since Don Leppert in 1961. Marté was the first Pirate to homer on the first MLB pitch of his major league career since Walter Mueller did it 1922, and just the 28th player in MLB history to perform the feat.
He was batting .253 with four homers in 101 PA before he felt a tweak. On August 19th, he went on the DL with an oblique issue and returned September 7th. He started 17 games after his return, hitting .264. Marté's first MLB slash was .257/.300/.437 with five HR, 17 RBI, 18 runs and 12 SB in 17 attempts (71%) with an OPS of 104 in 182 PA. In the field, he ended up with an UZR of 6.3, the best of any Bucco OF'er, with 3 assists.
For Pirate fans, he was the most heralded rookie call up since Cutch, and the Bucs tout his four-tool package. But while the homies are willing to be patient with him, other baseball guys see a darker cloud.
John Sickel wrote in his Prospect Preview that "...So far, Marte is exactly the player we should expect him to be based on his scouting reports and track record: physically talented, exciting to watch, a fine defender, but with significant flaws that crimp his offensive value. He...still has time to work his problems out, but there is no guarantee that he will. Many similar players have failed. My take is that Marte will scuffle along for another year or two at his current level of inadequate offensive performance, then make some adjustments and have a run as a solid hitter in his late 20s..."
The flaws Sickel referred to can be boiled down to one major deficiency - plate discipline. Marté fanned 50 times, and that's a 27% K rate, tolerable for Pedro but not for a guy who the Pirates hope to pencil in at the top of the order. He hit leadoff or in the two hole for all but seven pinch-hitting or late inning sub appearances for Pittsburgh. Marté walked just eight times, a 4% rate, the same as Clint Barmes and the result was a disappointing .300 OBP.
We're not as hard on him as is Sickels. Marté had lots of trouble with off speed stuff, but he also has a history of improving his pitch recognition over time; we'll see if that holds true at the MLB level. He showed enough power - he had the best slugging % of any Buc outfielder not named Cutch or Jones - and proved he's a threat on the bases and can cover some ground in left. He should only improve in those areas.
While we thought the Bucs could have called him up sooner, he does only have 99 AAA games under his belt and 129 at AA. 2013 should be his first full season playing cat-and-mouse with MLB pitchers, and we'd expect some rough sailing and inconsistency. But from what we've seen, Marté is a keeper. The only question in our mind is whether he will ever become a top of the order hitter.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Starling Marte Freed
Well, the Starling Marte era has finally arrived. The Pirates announced that they'll call up Marte from Indy for the Houston Astro series that begins tomorrow.
The team optioned RHP Evan Meek back to Indy to clear a space; they need to open one more spot before tomorrow for Wandy Rodriguez, too. The most obvious move would be to send down glove guy Gorkys Hernandez, currently the reserve OF, for a month and then recall him in September, but that's just speculative at this point. A case could be made to cut loose pretty much any of the Bucco bench guys at this point.
Marte, 23, was hitting .286 with a .348 OBP, 61 RBI, 12 homers and 20 doubles in 98 games for the Indians. He's also stolen 20+ sacks since 2008, and has 131 swipes in six minor/Dominican League seasons, a real plus for a team struggling at the top end of its lineup where he'll likely be inserted.
The Santo Domingo native's arrival has been long awaited by the fan base, but the Pirates seemed in no rush to take the last step with him. Oddly, a short slump may have convinced them he was ready.
After tearing up the International League, he went through a 2-for-18 slump, with some wondering if he was trying too hard to put on a show for the big team. He quickly settled back into the groove, hitting .500 in his last few games, and that seemed to convince the FO that he had matured enough to begin his MLB journey.
The Pirates and Rene Gayo signed Marte from the Dominican Republic for $85,000 in 2007. Marte is the first player from the Pirates Latin American academy in El Toro, Dominican Republic, which opened in 2009, to reach the majors.
He's been on the radar since 2009, when he hit .319 while zooming through all three Class A levels. Marte's breakout season was 2011 when he .332 for Class AA Altoona, leading the Eastern League in batting average and doubles while reaching double digits in homers with 12 for the first time.
Baseball America rated Marte as the fourth-best prospect in the Pirates' minor league system coming into this year. They also chose him as the best athlete, best hitter for average and best outfield arm in the organization. As of July, BA ranked him #36 in their prospect list, climbing from a pre-season ranking of #73.
Like all young guns, he'll have to work his way through the education that MLB pitchers and advance scouts have waiting for him. His knock is that he's not that disciplined at the dish and chases the ball; be sure his big league opponents have that memo. But the Pirates let Pedro work that out in the show, and Marte will have the same chance.
His fielding, though, should be MLB ready after a little acclimation - he's only played 20 games in the corner OF at Indy, having been in center most of his minor league life. Baseball America said that he's "Good enough defensively to spur talk of pushing Andrew McCutchen to a corner."
We won't expect that for a while, but Marte looks like he'll be more than capable of covering PNC's pasture in left, though he can play either corner. The Pirates have options with him - how he'll combine with Alex Presley and Garrett Jones could end up in any of several configurations yet.
His call up may also be the FO's tacit admission that they're not adding another bat, though we have a few more days to see if they can wrangle a stick from the league without roiling the minors too badly.
But hey, they brought in a pitcher and a bat, with maybe more on the way. The FO is all in this year, so let's see where the next two months in these uncharted waters take the team.
(Marte's bio is here.)
The team optioned RHP Evan Meek back to Indy to clear a space; they need to open one more spot before tomorrow for Wandy Rodriguez, too. The most obvious move would be to send down glove guy Gorkys Hernandez, currently the reserve OF, for a month and then recall him in September, but that's just speculative at this point. A case could be made to cut loose pretty much any of the Bucco bench guys at this point.
Marte, 23, was hitting .286 with a .348 OBP, 61 RBI, 12 homers and 20 doubles in 98 games for the Indians. He's also stolen 20+ sacks since 2008, and has 131 swipes in six minor/Dominican League seasons, a real plus for a team struggling at the top end of its lineup where he'll likely be inserted.
The Santo Domingo native's arrival has been long awaited by the fan base, but the Pirates seemed in no rush to take the last step with him. Oddly, a short slump may have convinced them he was ready.
After tearing up the International League, he went through a 2-for-18 slump, with some wondering if he was trying too hard to put on a show for the big team. He quickly settled back into the groove, hitting .500 in his last few games, and that seemed to convince the FO that he had matured enough to begin his MLB journey.
The Pirates and Rene Gayo signed Marte from the Dominican Republic for $85,000 in 2007. Marte is the first player from the Pirates Latin American academy in El Toro, Dominican Republic, which opened in 2009, to reach the majors.
He's been on the radar since 2009, when he hit .319 while zooming through all three Class A levels. Marte's breakout season was 2011 when he .332 for Class AA Altoona, leading the Eastern League in batting average and doubles while reaching double digits in homers with 12 for the first time.
Baseball America rated Marte as the fourth-best prospect in the Pirates' minor league system coming into this year. They also chose him as the best athlete, best hitter for average and best outfield arm in the organization. As of July, BA ranked him #36 in their prospect list, climbing from a pre-season ranking of #73.
Like all young guns, he'll have to work his way through the education that MLB pitchers and advance scouts have waiting for him. His knock is that he's not that disciplined at the dish and chases the ball; be sure his big league opponents have that memo. But the Pirates let Pedro work that out in the show, and Marte will have the same chance.
His fielding, though, should be MLB ready after a little acclimation - he's only played 20 games in the corner OF at Indy, having been in center most of his minor league life. Baseball America said that he's "Good enough defensively to spur talk of pushing Andrew McCutchen to a corner."
We won't expect that for a while, but Marte looks like he'll be more than capable of covering PNC's pasture in left, though he can play either corner. The Pirates have options with him - how he'll combine with Alex Presley and Garrett Jones could end up in any of several configurations yet.
His call up may also be the FO's tacit admission that they're not adding another bat, though we have a few more days to see if they can wrangle a stick from the league without roiling the minors too badly.
But hey, they brought in a pitcher and a bat, with maybe more on the way. The FO is all in this year, so let's see where the next two months in these uncharted waters take the team.
(Marte's bio is here.)
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Starling Marte
Starling Marte was signed by Pirates' Latin American scouting director Rene Gayo and Dominican scouting supervisor Josue Herrera in 2006. Hailing from the capital city of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, he wasn't considered a top talent at the time, but rather a raw but toolsy prospect. He signed with Pittsburgh for $85,000. That deal's looking kinda sweet now.
He started out in the Dominican Summer League in 2007, and didn't look so hot at the dish. But he grew a little the following year, hitting .296 and convincing the Pirates it was time to ship him stateside.
They kept him in extended spring training to open 2009 to acclimate him to El Norte. He got a brief assignment to the GCL Pirates when their season opened before being sent to Class A West Virginia, where he hit .312. The Pirates promoted him to High A Lynchburg at the end of the year to bolster the Hillcats' playoff run, but the 20 year old sprained his ankle after just two at-bats.
The new High A club, Bradenton, was where Marte started in 2010. He was the Marauders' CF, and tore up the league for the first month before coming back to earth. He was playing with a bum hand that required hamate surgery, though he returned to action in August and got about a half season of work in.
Marte hit .315, but with no homers. His walk-to-K ration was 1:5, so clearly some work on discipline was required. His OF play was a roller coaster - he would make the brilliant play, then misread a routine fly. All in all, the usual travails of a guy in Class A ball.
Altoona's 2011 season was Marte's coming out party. He had a slash of .332/.370/.500 (his BA led the Eastern League) and finally showed some power with 38 doubles, eight triples and 12 HRs. His technique in the pasture slowly improved, and there was never any doubt about his arm - he had 18 assists.
As we said, it was a breakout season. Marte was selected as a member of the World Team for the 2011 Futures Game and named the Eastern League Rookie of the Year. He was also picked as an EL Mid & Post Season All-Star, a Baseball America Double-A All-Star, a Topps Double-A All-Star, and a MiLB.com All-Star. Marte was added to the Pirates 40-man roster.
This season, it was off to Indy to polish up his game after a great camp (13-for-25 with 3 HR). His slash there is .285/.346/.499 with 11 HR and 58 RBI. He has the same problem with plate discipline; his walk-to-whiff ratio is 26:83 with 395 PA, and that's not ideal. But nobody is perfect, and the clamor for his arrival has been deafening, especially since Jose Tabata's ticket to Indianapolis was punched.
No surprise about the drumbeat. He’s got plus/plus speed and arm, can play the value position of CF, hits for average and is starting to show some power - he has grown from a string bean to a 6'2", 180 pound man - and that's about all the tools a guy can fit into his tool kit. Marte is projected to be a .285 hitter with the potential for 15 HR and 25 stolen bases. Not a bad package; sounds like a young Cutch.
And the media has anointed him as the Bucs' top position player. His pre-season rankings: MiLB.com Season Preview: #40; Baseball Prospectus: #56; Baseball America: #73 and Scout.com/FOX Sports: #87.
But he's not a total package yet. His strikeout rate isn't terrible, at about 20% over his career, but he could stand to tighten up his swing zone and increase his walk rate, a pretty miserable 5%. He's drawn just 99 walks in his minor league career, almost as many times as he's been beaned, 69 (hopefully he'll cut down taking one for the team while he's working on habits to break).
Marte, oddly, has started in center field for the majority of his time in the organization, odd since a guy named Cutch has filled that spot fairly well for the past couple or three seasons. He's only played 51 games in right and 16 in left, and while he may have the ability to bump McCutch, don't hold your breathe waiting on it. Marte will have a learning curve in one of the corners; his speed says left; his arm says right. Nice decision to have to make.
How well he'll play the field is another question. His routes have improved, but he's not an intuitive fielder and may, like McCutch, have a steep learning curve despite being gifted physically. And don't discount the sheer physical skills; many scouts say it's only a matter of time until he starts in CF.
The only other quibble is his steal rate; it's at about 72% career-wise and just 61% (19-31) at Indy. The Pirates don't seemed blessed with many instinctive base stealers in their system and sure as heck haven't figured out how to train any.
So why isn't he up? Well, the Pirates kinda suggest that they want him to fix up that eye before MLB sliders eat him up, and get a little more work as a corner OF. Others, leaning a bit more toward conspiracy as his name has been mentioned in trade rumors, think the Bucs are leaving him at Indy to feast on minor league pitching rather than devalue him with the inevitable learning process of MLB hitting. It's also possible that a deal not involving him could open up an everyday rather than platoon role for him on the big club, and they're waiting on that scenario.
This we do know: with JT at Indy, the Pirates need a right-handed outfielder. And it sure looks like Marte's time is due - there's a need, he seems to be ready, and it's well past the time of year where his clock would start prematurely. Tick, tick, tick...
He started out in the Dominican Summer League in 2007, and didn't look so hot at the dish. But he grew a little the following year, hitting .296 and convincing the Pirates it was time to ship him stateside.
They kept him in extended spring training to open 2009 to acclimate him to El Norte. He got a brief assignment to the GCL Pirates when their season opened before being sent to Class A West Virginia, where he hit .312. The Pirates promoted him to High A Lynchburg at the end of the year to bolster the Hillcats' playoff run, but the 20 year old sprained his ankle after just two at-bats.
The new High A club, Bradenton, was where Marte started in 2010. He was the Marauders' CF, and tore up the league for the first month before coming back to earth. He was playing with a bum hand that required hamate surgery, though he returned to action in August and got about a half season of work in.
Marte hit .315, but with no homers. His walk-to-K ration was 1:5, so clearly some work on discipline was required. His OF play was a roller coaster - he would make the brilliant play, then misread a routine fly. All in all, the usual travails of a guy in Class A ball.
Altoona's 2011 season was Marte's coming out party. He had a slash of .332/.370/.500 (his BA led the Eastern League) and finally showed some power with 38 doubles, eight triples and 12 HRs. His technique in the pasture slowly improved, and there was never any doubt about his arm - he had 18 assists.
As we said, it was a breakout season. Marte was selected as a member of the World Team for the 2011 Futures Game and named the Eastern League Rookie of the Year. He was also picked as an EL Mid & Post Season All-Star, a Baseball America Double-A All-Star, a Topps Double-A All-Star, and a MiLB.com All-Star. Marte was added to the Pirates 40-man roster.
This season, it was off to Indy to polish up his game after a great camp (13-for-25 with 3 HR). His slash there is .285/.346/.499 with 11 HR and 58 RBI. He has the same problem with plate discipline; his walk-to-whiff ratio is 26:83 with 395 PA, and that's not ideal. But nobody is perfect, and the clamor for his arrival has been deafening, especially since Jose Tabata's ticket to Indianapolis was punched.
No surprise about the drumbeat. He’s got plus/plus speed and arm, can play the value position of CF, hits for average and is starting to show some power - he has grown from a string bean to a 6'2", 180 pound man - and that's about all the tools a guy can fit into his tool kit. Marte is projected to be a .285 hitter with the potential for 15 HR and 25 stolen bases. Not a bad package; sounds like a young Cutch.
And the media has anointed him as the Bucs' top position player. His pre-season rankings: MiLB.com Season Preview: #40; Baseball Prospectus: #56; Baseball America: #73 and Scout.com/FOX Sports: #87.
But he's not a total package yet. His strikeout rate isn't terrible, at about 20% over his career, but he could stand to tighten up his swing zone and increase his walk rate, a pretty miserable 5%. He's drawn just 99 walks in his minor league career, almost as many times as he's been beaned, 69 (hopefully he'll cut down taking one for the team while he's working on habits to break).
Marte, oddly, has started in center field for the majority of his time in the organization, odd since a guy named Cutch has filled that spot fairly well for the past couple or three seasons. He's only played 51 games in right and 16 in left, and while he may have the ability to bump McCutch, don't hold your breathe waiting on it. Marte will have a learning curve in one of the corners; his speed says left; his arm says right. Nice decision to have to make.
How well he'll play the field is another question. His routes have improved, but he's not an intuitive fielder and may, like McCutch, have a steep learning curve despite being gifted physically. And don't discount the sheer physical skills; many scouts say it's only a matter of time until he starts in CF.
The only other quibble is his steal rate; it's at about 72% career-wise and just 61% (19-31) at Indy. The Pirates don't seemed blessed with many instinctive base stealers in their system and sure as heck haven't figured out how to train any.
So why isn't he up? Well, the Pirates kinda suggest that they want him to fix up that eye before MLB sliders eat him up, and get a little more work as a corner OF. Others, leaning a bit more toward conspiracy as his name has been mentioned in trade rumors, think the Bucs are leaving him at Indy to feast on minor league pitching rather than devalue him with the inevitable learning process of MLB hitting. It's also possible that a deal not involving him could open up an everyday rather than platoon role for him on the big club, and they're waiting on that scenario.
This we do know: with JT at Indy, the Pirates need a right-handed outfielder. And it sure looks like Marte's time is due - there's a need, he seems to be ready, and it's well past the time of year where his clock would start prematurely. Tick, tick, tick...
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Starling Marte
Say this for Dave Littlefield - he didn't have much of an eye for pitchers, but he could spot a centerfielder. In 2005, he drafted McCutch, and two years later inked a 17 year old Dominican product, Starling Marte, who is now the next big thing in the system. Rene Gayos signed him for $85K, which may work out to be one of the best bargains struck in recent Bucco memory.
In the past three years, Marte has gone through the levels from A ball to Altoona, and hit .300+ at each stop. He's slated to open at Indy this season after winning the Eastern League batting title in 2011 with a .332 average.
Considered by many to be a five tool player blessed with a great baseball physique, he didn't show much long ball bop until last season, when he hit 12 homers for the Curve. And that was just a year after having power-sapping hamate surgery. The other tools were all evident: speed, an arm, a glove and the ability to hit for average.
MLB.com ranked him as its #40 prospect, The Hardball Times as #48, Baseball Prospectus as #56, John Sickels as #64, Keith Law of ESPN as #73, Baseball America as #73, and The Scouting Book as #80 with a bullet. While not exactly in the can't miss category, those ratings are pretty fair indicators of Marte being on the radar, especially as a AA player.
And other teams know his potential. When the Bucs showed some interest in Met first baseman Ike Davis, the New York brass was reported to ask for Marte as part of the return package. That shut down that avenue in, well, a New York minute. Washington had even less luck; they were told he was unavailable. Now the Pirates claim no one on the roster is untouchable if the price is right, but it would take one heck of a deal to pry Marte loose.
The 23 year old has been in six spring games this year. He's put up a .692 average with a eight-hit streak and a couple of homers in 13 ABs. That showing won't get him a ticket to Pittsburgh yet.
Marte is still raw for all his physical tools. His command of the strike zone needs considerable work, as his Altoona 100K to 22W ratio shows. The more veteran hurlers in AAA will try to exploit his plate aggressiveness, so that will be his first challenge. He has plus speed, but his stolen base success rate last year was a so-so 67%. Marte has to work on combining pitching reads with his pure speed to improve on that phase of the game.
He gets a great jump in the outfield, but sometimes his routes are iffy and he considers every ball catchable, so he needs to polish up his mental game plan in the pasture. Marte has also had some problems this spring in adjusting to the corner outfield, a combination of unfamiliarity with the position and Florida's windy conditions.
While he'll patrol center at Indy, he's ticketed for the vast expanses of PNC Park's left field when he gets his call. It's thought that his physical tools could eventually earn him a spot in center, but Cutch will not go gently into that good night.
When will that call come? It depends on not only Marte's body of work - remember that Alex Presley tore the league up last year and still cooled his heels - but Pirate needs. Major league injuries and performance will factor in one way or another. And based on past roster moves, the FO will not be eager to start his clock ticking a minute sooner than they have to, a low revenue given.
But an outfield of Marte, McCutchen and Jose Tabata has to be a fly ball pitcher's dream come true, especially with the Pirates loading up on power arms in the minors, and that configuration isn't too far in the future.
The good news about Marte is the few chinks in his armor are correctable. He's young, and a bit of baseball maturing as provided at the AAA level should be his ticket. How quickly he achieves that maturity will be the key to his future role as a Pirate.
In the past three years, Marte has gone through the levels from A ball to Altoona, and hit .300+ at each stop. He's slated to open at Indy this season after winning the Eastern League batting title in 2011 with a .332 average.
Considered by many to be a five tool player blessed with a great baseball physique, he didn't show much long ball bop until last season, when he hit 12 homers for the Curve. And that was just a year after having power-sapping hamate surgery. The other tools were all evident: speed, an arm, a glove and the ability to hit for average.
MLB.com ranked him as its #40 prospect, The Hardball Times as #48, Baseball Prospectus as #56, John Sickels as #64, Keith Law of ESPN as #73, Baseball America as #73, and The Scouting Book as #80 with a bullet. While not exactly in the can't miss category, those ratings are pretty fair indicators of Marte being on the radar, especially as a AA player.
And other teams know his potential. When the Bucs showed some interest in Met first baseman Ike Davis, the New York brass was reported to ask for Marte as part of the return package. That shut down that avenue in, well, a New York minute. Washington had even less luck; they were told he was unavailable. Now the Pirates claim no one on the roster is untouchable if the price is right, but it would take one heck of a deal to pry Marte loose.
The 23 year old has been in six spring games this year. He's put up a .692 average with a eight-hit streak and a couple of homers in 13 ABs. That showing won't get him a ticket to Pittsburgh yet.
Marte is still raw for all his physical tools. His command of the strike zone needs considerable work, as his Altoona 100K to 22W ratio shows. The more veteran hurlers in AAA will try to exploit his plate aggressiveness, so that will be his first challenge. He has plus speed, but his stolen base success rate last year was a so-so 67%. Marte has to work on combining pitching reads with his pure speed to improve on that phase of the game.
He gets a great jump in the outfield, but sometimes his routes are iffy and he considers every ball catchable, so he needs to polish up his mental game plan in the pasture. Marte has also had some problems this spring in adjusting to the corner outfield, a combination of unfamiliarity with the position and Florida's windy conditions.
While he'll patrol center at Indy, he's ticketed for the vast expanses of PNC Park's left field when he gets his call. It's thought that his physical tools could eventually earn him a spot in center, but Cutch will not go gently into that good night.
When will that call come? It depends on not only Marte's body of work - remember that Alex Presley tore the league up last year and still cooled his heels - but Pirate needs. Major league injuries and performance will factor in one way or another. And based on past roster moves, the FO will not be eager to start his clock ticking a minute sooner than they have to, a low revenue given.
But an outfield of Marte, McCutchen and Jose Tabata has to be a fly ball pitcher's dream come true, especially with the Pirates loading up on power arms in the minors, and that configuration isn't too far in the future.
The good news about Marte is the few chinks in his armor are correctable. He's young, and a bit of baseball maturing as provided at the AAA level should be his ticket. How quickly he achieves that maturity will be the key to his future role as a Pirate.
Monday, November 23, 2009
#17 Starling Marte
Hey, Rene Gayo may not always get his man, but in 2007, he came away with Starling Marte from Santo Domingo, and at a very affordable $85K. The 6-1 stringbean went straight into the Dominican League.
His first season wasn't anything to write home about - he hit .220 - but Marte was the Dominican Summer League MVP in 2008, hitting .296 with nine home runs and 44 RBI in 257 at-bats. The suits brought him stateside after that performance, and coached him up some in the Florida Instructional League.
Marte started 2009 at Bradenton of the GCL, but after seven games, they moved him up to West Virginia, even though he was hitless in the Rookie League. In 54 games with the Power, Marte batted .312 with three home runs, 34 RBI and 24 steals in 31 tries.
He dazzled the coaches with his play in center field, although there is some debate among scouts as to how much polishing he needs. But the Power management thought that he had a chance to grow into a five tool player.
Matt Forman of Baseball America said this about Marte in the Sally league:
And hey, they jumped him to High A Lynchburg in September. Marte debuted with Tony Sanchez, and went 2 for 2 with an RBI before leaving the game with a sprained ankle, ending his season.
Now he's back home in the Dominican Winter League, playing for Aguilas Cibaenas, after a quick repeat course in the Pirate City Instructional League.
So what's his 411? Marte's athletic, got speed to burn, although he'll probably be groomed for left in the show, has a strong arm, can make the great play in the pasture but screw up the one-hopper, and has "projectable" power. We'll see if he develops into a slugger; he has packed on 20 pounds since they've signed him.
Marte does need to work on his eye at the dish. He walks at just a 5% rate, and whiffs every 4 or 5 at-bats. So he's a toolsy guy that still has his work cut out for him. We think he's rated a bit high so far based on one breakout year, but if he can repeat, Marte will zoom up the charts. Physically, he's the real deal.
He turned 21 in October, and he'll be just about right age-wise for his next stop, High A Bradenton, as his journey continues.
(Next - #16 Brian Friday)
His first season wasn't anything to write home about - he hit .220 - but Marte was the Dominican Summer League MVP in 2008, hitting .296 with nine home runs and 44 RBI in 257 at-bats. The suits brought him stateside after that performance, and coached him up some in the Florida Instructional League.
Marte started 2009 at Bradenton of the GCL, but after seven games, they moved him up to West Virginia, even though he was hitless in the Rookie League. In 54 games with the Power, Marte batted .312 with three home runs, 34 RBI and 24 steals in 31 tries.
He dazzled the coaches with his play in center field, although there is some debate among scouts as to how much polishing he needs. But the Power management thought that he had a chance to grow into a five tool player.
Matt Forman of Baseball America said this about Marte in the Sally league:
Marte is a plus-plus runner with a very good arm. Defensively, he’s a solid player, but one manager had this to say about his defense — “He makes some plays where you say ‘Wow,’ but then you look and see that he’s got 800 errors, so you back off.” The numbers say he only had seven errors. At this point, Marte needs a little more mileage. He’s still learning pitch recognition and plate discipline, though he did put up solid numbers.By August, Jim Callas of BA already had him rated as the Pirates #10 prospect.
And hey, they jumped him to High A Lynchburg in September. Marte debuted with Tony Sanchez, and went 2 for 2 with an RBI before leaving the game with a sprained ankle, ending his season.
Now he's back home in the Dominican Winter League, playing for Aguilas Cibaenas, after a quick repeat course in the Pirate City Instructional League.
So what's his 411? Marte's athletic, got speed to burn, although he'll probably be groomed for left in the show, has a strong arm, can make the great play in the pasture but screw up the one-hopper, and has "projectable" power. We'll see if he develops into a slugger; he has packed on 20 pounds since they've signed him.
Marte does need to work on his eye at the dish. He walks at just a 5% rate, and whiffs every 4 or 5 at-bats. So he's a toolsy guy that still has his work cut out for him. We think he's rated a bit high so far based on one breakout year, but if he can repeat, Marte will zoom up the charts. Physically, he's the real deal.
He turned 21 in October, and he'll be just about right age-wise for his next stop, High A Bradenton, as his journey continues.
(Next - #16 Brian Friday)
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