QUEENS — Starling Marte continues to be hampered by the groin area that he had surgery on over the winter and because of it, he’s back on the injured list.
The Mets announced on Monday that the veteran outfielder was placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Aug. 6, due to a right groin strain. Abraham Almonte was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to take his spot on the roster.
Marte had appeared in just two games since a return from migraine issues that landed him on the IL and kept him out for three weeks before the groin issues resurfaced. He also had been dealing with a lingering neck issue that was picked up in April while stealing a base.
“Sometimes things get kind of lost in translation,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “I just want to make sure he knows he can keep his trust about what he’s feeling. I think we all know by the level we’ve seen him play at last year that he hasn’t been able to do that consistently.
“I can get into all the factors and the things that have gone on but I don’t think he’s 100% and I think we need to try and get our arms around getting him back to that again.”
After putting together an All-Star season last year — his first as a member of the Mets — the 34-year-old Marte had clearly struggled since undergoing double groin surgery in November. His batting average dropped 44 points from last year to .248 and his OPS dropped 191 points to a meager .625 with five home runs, 28 RBI, and 24 stolen bases.
“I feel for him,” Showalter said. “It has to be really frustrating to have that much skill and ability and not be able to get to it. So I’m trying to go another direction so we get it taken care of.”
Marte is scheduled to meet with the doctor that performed his surgery on Tuesday, but Showalter was unwilling to say whether or not the issue will be sorted out by the time he is eligible to come off the IL on Aug. 16.
There isn’t necessarily much of a rush, either. The Mets have surrendered the 2023 season after selling at the trade deadline and entered Monday night’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs having lost six straight games featuring sweeps by the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles.
“Until we make sure that some of the pain and discomfort that he’s feeling is not from the surgeries, we felt like that was behind us for some time, but who knows?” Showalter said. “We’ll let the guy who did the surgeries look at everything and ask him why he’s having this strained area there.”
