Starling Marte puts Mets before All-Star Game

LOS ANGELES — As much as Starling Marte felt honored Monday to be at Dodger Stadium for this week’s All-Star festivities, surrounded by the sport’s best players, his first priority remains the Mets.

Marte took himself off the active roster Sunday night, paving the way for L.A. native and current Dodger Freddie Freeman to join the National League squad.

Though Marte looked perfectly healthy earlier Sunday, going 2-for-4 and getting credit for stealing home when the Cubs botched a pickoff play, he ultimately decided it was better to be safe than sorry with the groin injury that sidelined him for a week.

“I wish I could play,” Marte said through an interpreter. “But honestly, with the injury that I had, it’s better to just rest the body and give it a couple of days. This is a tremendous experience, but it’s smarter to just rest and relax.”

Marte left a July 9 game in the fourth inning with what the Mets described as “groin tightness” and didn’t return until Friday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He has played three straight games (5-for-13, two stolen bases), but as someone who makes a big impact with his legs, sitting out the All-Star Game didn’t seem like a difficult choice.

“Whoever gets selected wants to play,” said Marte, who signed a four-year, $78 million deal in the offseason. “But there are still more games to be played for us as a team and that’s really the smartest decision for us. We can’t come out here and experiment and just try to play for the sake of playing when there’s actually a long-term goal that we need to achieve.”

Nestor to get nastier?

Look for Nestor Cortes to add a few new wrinkles to his already unpredictable mound presence if he gets the chance to pitch Tuesday night. Cortes has thrived this season with improvisation — suddenly dropping down sidearm or turning his back on the hitter during his windup, for instance — and he could tinker again on the national stage.

“Everybody knows what I can do when I’m up there,” he said. “I think I’m gonna dance a little bit when I’m up there. We’ll see when the time comes, and if it’s right, I’ll definitely pull something out of the hat. But we’ll see what tricks I got.”

Cortes has talked about his All-Star nod plenty, but he figured it wouldn’t really hit him until he was on the field Monday night watching the Home Run Derby. One of the biggest moments for him? Sharing the field with Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols, two All-Stars he watched growing up.

“That’s going to be pretty cool,” Cortes said.

Admiring from afar

Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber, a participant in Monday night’s Home Run Derby, has taken notice of Matt Carpenter’s comeback season for the ages with the Yankees.

“Especially seeing what he’s been through in trying to figure out his swing and to see him having the success he’s having [is cool],” said Schwarber, familiar with Carpenter from the former’s time with the Cubs and the latter’s time with the Cardinals. “He’s worked hard for what he’s getting. You can only be happy for that and you can only root for him.”

New York flavor to start

Aaron Judge, voted into the American League starting lineup, will bat second and start in rightfield. Giancarlo Stanton, also voted in, will bat fifth and start in left. The Mets’ Jeff McNeil will start at second and bat ninth for the National League.

Keeping it real

Credit AL manager Dusty Baker for honesty. During an early afternoon news conference announcing Tuesday night’s lineups, the manager of the Astros didn’t pretend when it came to the AL’s starting pitcher, Shane McClanahan of the Rays.

“I’ve never seen him pitch before,” said Baker, who actually did see the lefthander briefly pitch in relief against his club during the 2021 ALCS. “But everyone I talked to said he’s nasty.”

Hometown hero Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers will start for the National League.