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Starling Marte Feels He’s in a Much Better Place Recently With His Swing

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PITTSBURGH — When Starling Marte returned from an 80-game suspension at the end of July, it was hard to be sure what to expect for the Pirates former All-Star and Gold Glove left fielder.

Marte was a 3.9 WAR player in 2015 and has averaged to be a 4.1 WAR player in his first four full seasons in the league, and as Tim Williams wrote this week, Marte seems to be the sole safe bet amongst the Pirates outfielders going forward.

But to miss 80 games in the middle of the season and then come back at full strength is a big ask, even for a high-caliber player. That’s why it wasn’t a big surprise when Marte hit .250/.304/.269 through the remainder of the month of July.

He turned things around a good bit in August, hitting .273/.333/.382. That’s still far below his career line of .287/.342/.439, particularly when it comes to power. Marte had just one extra-base hit in the month of July and it took an entire month for him to hit a home run.

The first part of his season in April didn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence on that front, either, with a .370 slugging percentage and a .659 OPS. Which led to some speculation that a post-PED suspension Marte might not be the same kind of hitter that he was in the past, particularly when it came to power.

Marte has never been a high on-base percentage player. It would be impossible for him to maintain a near-.800 OPS without power and since being made aware of his PED suspension toward the end of Spring Training this season, his power numbers have been in a tailspin.

Of course, Marte was well aware of what was going on. That made the process of him trying to re-adjust to the majors even more difficult, but he feels that he is in a much better place recently with his swing.

“It’s like a Spring Training — it’s like starting again,” Marte said. “At the same time, I had been working with the coach to not try to do too much. … It’s a good swing. I put the barrel in front. Sometimes the ball has more backspin. But I feel more ready. I see the ball better and I’m getting ready in time.”

He took off with a six-game hitting streak from Aug. 15 to Aug 20. that saw him go 13 for 28 with a home run and a triple. He’s maintained a .786 OPS since then, just a hair above his career total.

“I’ve been working a lot better,” Marte said. “I’ve been working to get my swing to that spot, let the pitcher throw strikes and be focused on putting the ball in play. I feel good.”

Manager Clint Hurdle said part of the reason for Marte’s success was not affecting his swing by trying to prove that he was the same player he always has been.

“I think he’s worked in a very professional manner since he’s been back,” Hurdle said. “The thing I liked is that he didn’t get outside himself. He didn’t try to overcompensate any certain area. He didn’t try to create bat speed. He just stayed in the box, kept seeing pitches, fighting pitches off, trying to get his timing down and hitting the ball to the big part of the field. It was hard. He’s gotten to a much better spot.”

With the Pirates’ playoff hopes mostly dashed, veteran players might be tempted to put the rest of the season on cruise control, particularly those like Marte that have long-term contracts. But Marte sees his return from suspension as an opportunity to prove to the team, fans, and himself that he’s still the same player he was before.

“The team is great and we’re working together every day and improving,” he said. “I have to do the same with my game. Just play baseball. No matter if we’re winning or not, I have to play hard.”

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