Mets' Starling Marte still unlikely to be ready for NL Wild Card Series
Mets' Starling Marte returns to the dugout after he struck out swinging against the Colorado Rockies during the eighth inning of an MLB baseball game at Citi Field on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Of the handful of roster-related decisions the Mets need to make by Friday, when their Wild Card Series against the Padres begins, one might be made for them.
Starling Marte, a month after fracturing his right middle finger, still was unable to throw baseballs during his defensive drills Wednesday. He also has been unable to successfully swing a bat with two hands.
“I’m never going to say never,” manager Buck Showalter said, later adding: “He’s one of our toughest guys. So when you know he can’t — he would fight through about anything. But if he can’t swing the bat, can’t throw the ball it’s kind of hard.”
But DH/first baseman/corner outfielder Darin Ruf “is an option,” according to Showalter, who deemed Ruf healthy after the Mets put him on the injured list with a neck strain last week.
Ruf has been taking practice at-bats against lefthanded pitching, his one job, but it isn’t clear whether the Mets will carry him on the roster even if he is physically able to play. He struggled since joining the team at the trade deadline, and he lost some of his September playing time to called-up prospects Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez.
Personnel news
The Mets activated Mychal Givens from the COVID-related injured list. He tossed a scoreless inning in his first appearance since. Sept. 14.
To make room for Givens, the Mets put Tylor Megill on the IL. They neither revealed an injury nor made a corresponding 40-man-roster move for Givens, indicating Megill’s stay also is related to COVID-19. Megill still would be eligible for the playoff roster, as long as he isn’t testing positive/actually sick.
Minors details
The Mets had an on-field ceremony honoring their organizational award winners, including minor-league player of the year Brett Baty and minor-league pitcher of the year Dominic Hamel.
Baty, 22, had a .315/.410/.533 in the upper minors before the Mets called him up in August. He played in 11 games — and homered in his first plate appearance — before tearing a ligament in his right thumb, requiring surgery.
Hamel, 23, had a 3.25 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with two Single-A clubs in his first full professional season. The Mets selected him in the third round of the draft last year.
Extra bases
SNY play-by-play man Gary Cohen is a finalist for the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually by the Hall of Fame for excellence in broadcasting . . . Terrance Gore singled in the third inning Wednesday, his first hit since July 4, 2019. He had won two World Series rings since then . . . The Mets’ hit-by-pitch total, a modern major-league record: 112 . . . The Mets finished with 101 wins, second most in a season in franchise history (trailing only the 1986 club that won 108). And they finished with the same record as Atlanta: 101-61. But because Atlanta took the season series between the teams, 10-9, it had the tiebreaker and thus gets the NL East championship.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
