For the most part, Pirates fans have been happy this season. The pitching was on top of the baseball world in the early going, the offense has been tearing the cover off of the baseball and their favorite team is just a half game out of first place. The only wish that they have is to see the Triple-A sensation Starling Marte in Pittsburgh.
While Marte put up good numbers in spring training, it was understood around the organization that he would start the season in Indianapolis no matter how well he performed. But with the weeks leading up to the All-Star break and with the Pirates in a serious playoff race, the fans want Marte patrolling the outfield as soon as possible.
According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, a “high ranking” Pirates executive said that now is the time for Marte. That was two weeks prior to the break. Even after Marte has gone 0-4 in his last three games, there was talk that he may make his debut in Pittsburgh for the series opener against the Marlins. But Pirates’ manager Clint Hurdle said based on the at bats they want him to get, he’s not ready yet.
“It’s not about somebody standing in his way, it’s not like we have so much outfield depth that we can’t bring him up, not at all,” Hurdle said. “The thing we continue to think through is the number of at bats that Andrew (McCutchen) and (Neil) Walker had in Triple-A versus the number that (Alex) Presley, (Jose) Tabata and (Pedro) Alvarez had, not that you need the same amount, but with experience seems to be more stability once they get here.”
“With the less experience, there seems to be more challenges once they get here. He’s an exciting young player. It’s not going to sway us that we can’t call him up here until he gets 800 at bats. That’s not an issue.”
It’s also not the fact that the trade deadline is just 11 days away even though Marte’s name has been mentioned in possible deals for Justin Upton, Hunter Pence and other player the Pirates could acquire at the trade deadline.
“It could be a popular theory, I’m not up on all of the theories,” Hurdle said. “I don’t think it has thump if something’s being made of it.”
Hurdle said another thing the team would like to see is Marte get more experience in the corner outfield spots since his experience is mainly in centerfield. If you haven’t heard, the Pirates have a pretty good center fielder in McCutchen.
“He’s making progress and heading the right direction,” Hurdle said. “Kyle Stark (assistant general manager) was just with us and he had been down there (Indy) recently. We’re trying to get him some experience in both corners as well as centerfield, depending on what would be the best fit for us at the appropriate time if and when he will be called up.”
“He’s got experience in centerfield, he doesn’t have as much on the corners where he would profile for us. He struggled dramatically in right field in spring training. It’s kind of ironic because that’s the position he played in winter ball the most. If you look at our ballpark at home, the profile of left field with the North Shore Notch out there, that’d be exciting seeing a guy like him out there. We’ve already seen with a guy like Gorkys (Hernandez) out there, it’s very similar type skill set.”
According to his teammate in Indianapolis and a guy who has had his turn in the big leagues this year, Matt Hague loves watching Marte play.
“He’s an exciting player and he’s a good guy to have on your team because he’s on base so much,” Hague said. “He’s just a great player.”
When Marte does get that call to the big leagues, Hurdle expects the team to embrace him and show him the ropes right away.
“I’m very confident for any player that comes up, the climate that we have in this clubhouse will be good for him,” Hurdle said. “Every player that we’ve brought up from the organization has been embraced and given their walking papers on how we do things around here, the way we walk and talk. We’re all Pirates and the support has been awesome. It won’t be any different in his case.”
Hurdle said you may even see a guy step up to make Marte feel more welcome. A guy like Alvarez.
“I think there are some other guys in the clubhouse that will show up that haven’t shown up for other players just because the language,” Hurdle explained. “How does Pedro play in all of this? Pedro could be a great help and sounding board for a guy like Marte to come up. You want to make sure you get yours guys as comfortable as they can be.”
We don’t know when the Pirates will call up Marte, but one thing is for sure. Hurdle and Neil Huntington want to make sure the time is right.
“It’s just the right time for the right reasons and we’re not afraid to bring him up in a pennant race,” Hurdle said. “It’s just pulling the trigger at the right time.”
Photo Credits: Jeff Gross/Getty Images
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