Starling Marte Has Caught Fire, With Six Straight Multi-Hit Games

Well, I gave Starling Marte some grief earlier, complaining about his lack of plate discipline, and overall production. If Starling Marte reads this blog, I seem to have pissed him off. Since I posted that article, Marte has been on a tear, and has made me look like an idiot ever since. He’s now batting .333/.368/.444, and 4 RBI. Not only that, but Marte has played some stellar defense as well (including robbing Joey Votto of a hit last night), making some of the more difficult plays look easy. Understand that this isn’t me doing a complete one-eighty on my thoughts on Marte, I still see a lot of room for him to develop (particularly with his plate discipline), but this is certainly a case of me giving credit where it’s due.

April 12, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Starling Marte (6) steals second base as Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart (top) takes the throw during the first inning against at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Marte has shown up to play each game since game two of the Dodgers series, and he doesn’t look like he’s going to cool down anytime soon. He doesn’t appear like a guy playing above his ceiling right now (like the whole Pirates team has appeared for the first half of each of the last two years), but much more like a guy who could (given the right circumstances) continue to produce at a fairly high level. I just hope he keeps making me look as stupid as he has the past few games, because the Pirates need that from him, and he’s been a great contributor over the last six games. Let’s just hope he keeps doing it for the rest of the season as well.