3 Takeaways From The Pittsburgh Pirates Sweep Of The Texas Rangers

Starling Marte Is Pretty Damn Important To The Pirates

We are going to start the 3 takeaways with some big time analysis. Believe it or not, center fielder Starling Marte is very important to the Pirates. That’s right, when the team’s best player is on the field it makes the team better.

I know, crazy stuff!

Prior to the start of the series Marte was activated off the 10-day injured list on Tuesday afternoon. With Marte out, the Pirates went just 1-8. This included that ugly 8 game losing streak.

Marte was 3-for-11 with a home run, a double, 3 RBI, and a stolen base in the team’s two games in Texas. He also played his typical Gold Glove defense in center field. Getting Marte back could not have come at a better time as the team was missing both his bat and his glove.

After sweeping the Rangers, the Pirates are now 13-5 when Marte is in the starting lineup this season. When he is not? Well, they are just 1-9.

Over the course of the past two seasons this has become Marte’s team. He is the team’s longest tenured player, their best player, and their most important player. In order for the Pirates to compete for a postseason berth this season they need Marte to be on the field and be at his best, and their performance with compared to their performance without him through the first month of the season just further solidifies this.