Last August, the Miami Marlins traded for Starling Marte which was a rather surprising move. After joining the Marlins last year, Marte did not meet expectations and hit .245.
Although the veteran outfielder struggled in a Marlins uniform, he is playing out of his mind in 2021. Let’s take a look at what he’s done so far.
Starling Marte in 2021 for the Miami Marlins
The 32-year-old outfielder is on track to have the best season of his career right now. He currently owns a .360/.454/.600 slash line. On top of that, he has hit five home runs, driven in 12 runs, and stolen six bases. Marte has only played in 27 games due to a rib fracture in late April, which is why his home runs and stolen base totals are down.
Never late to the parte. #JuntosMiami pic.twitter.com/ARwZmbCiq6
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) June 11, 2021
The Miami Marlins center fielder currently has the third-best OBP in MLB, third-best batting average, and fifth-best OPS. He doesn’t quite have MVP numbers but he is certainly one of the best players on the Marlins.
Starling has sort of been overlooked on the Marlins offense because he was sidelined for a while, and because of the emergence of Jazz Chisholm. The young infielder is having a fantastic sophomore season and has been in the news the most.
But Marte’s presence can’t be overlooked and he certainly deserves his second career All-Star appearance. It actually amazes me that Marte has only been to one All-Star game in his life. He made his first All-Star game appearance in 2016 when he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Marte however does have two Gold Gloves which he won in 2015 and 2016. The veteran outfielder has struggled with injuries throughout his career which has limited his impact on the field, but when he is healthy, he can be a huge factor.
The Miami Marlins outfielder will be a free agent after this season so it will be interesting to see where he goes. This upcoming free agency class has a lot of talent, and Marte is one of the players at the top.