After a promising rookie season, a freshly signed contract extension and the hope for improvement offensively from Pirates left fielder Starling Marte, it’s been a rough start to say the least. A .229 average, an OBP of .308 and 37 strikeouts are not exactly what the Pirates had in mind when they placed him in the lead off spot opening day.
To put in context, only the Mariners Abraham Alamonte has more strikeouts in all of baseball with 39. In fact, Marte has struck out twelve more times than Pedro Alvarez, who has become notorious in Pittsburgh for swings and misses. Of course, Alvarez is one of the most dangerous power hitters in all of baseball, and is batting cleanup. Marte has been playing exclusively in the lead off spot.
A leadoff hitter leading the National League in strikeouts with an on base percentage just above .300? Not good, not good at all.
Before another rainstorm forced last night’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles, Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle finally made a move that’s been need to made for a while; taking Marte out of the lead off spot and replacing him with Jose Tabata.
Though Tabata has some limitations for playing lead off, he did an admirable job when pressed into duty last season when Marte injured his hand. Tabata’s ability to make contact and be more disciplined at the plate more than makes up for his lack of speed on the bases compared to Marte.
At the moment, Tabata’s on base percentage is only slightly better than Marte, but I think its fair to say moving Marte makes a lot of sense right now. Marte is still very young, and his plate discipline, considered a work in progress since his days in the lower level of the minors, is still very much a work in progress.
Personally, I have never been sold on the notion that Marte is a lead off hitter. Though he has some speed on the bases, he simply does not take enough pitches or walk nearly enough to make him a viable solution in the long or short term. As Marte matures as a hitter, he seems like a much more viable candidate to hit in the five-hole. Marte has power, and I truly believe as he matures as a major league hitter, he will become a player capable of hitting 20+ homers and approach the 100 RBI plateau.
I know. Considering where Marte is right now, that’s a lot to ask. However, I think moving the 25 year-old who has barely played a full MLB season worth of games will allow him to stop feeling so much pressure trying to do too much at the plate. As he gets more comfortable, he will start to play the way we all know, and expect him to play.
The expected move to the seventh spot in the order in the Pirates next game should be a welcome one for Marte. Without the pressure to do too much, he should be able to relax, and certainly get some workable pitches. That of course, means he will have to be more disciplined, and willing to be little more patient at the plate.
It would be unfair to put all the blame for the Pirates offensive woes on Marte. There is plenty of blame to go around. However, at this point, a shake up to the line up/batting order might be just what the Pirates need. Their anemic offensive output has a great deal to do with their disappointing 10-16 start. Making this change might just spark the Pirates.
In order to see if this change can work, Hurdle will need to consider scrapping the Tabata/Travis Snider platoon. Tabata needs to be more or less the everyday right fielder, with occasional starts for Snider along the way.
This means Hurdle is going to have to be disciplined too, and resist the temptation to go back to the platoon when Tabata has a poor game or aggravates his manager, something he’s been known to do from time to time.
Either way, the Pirates need a spark, and moving Marte out of the lead off spot might be just the thing to do it.
(Photo Credit: Vincent Pugliese/Getty Images)
