It was thought that Starling Marte would not make his first career All-Star Game appearance when he placed second in the National League Final Vote, but Saturday afternoon that was not revealed to be the case.
Marte will be heading to San Diego replacing Yoenis Cespedes.
“It’s been a crazy 24 hours,” he said. “It was definitely an emotional ride thinking it wasn’t going to happen. I am excited, this is something that I really have worked hard to go to and I’m really looking forward to the opportunity, it’s really going to be awesome.”
Cespedes has a strained right quadriceps injury, which forced him out of Friday’s New York Mets game after three innings of play.
“It’s unfortunate that Cespedes got injured, we never praise that or are for that,” said Marte. “I hope he has a quick recovery.”
National League and Mets manager Terry Collins had said to reporters following Friday’s game that it was a pretty safe assumption that both Cespedes and Noah Syndergaard would not play in Tuesday’s All-Star game.
Marte will join Pirates closer Mark Melancon as a team representative for the All-Star Game which will be played in San Diego.
“It’s awesome and I think it’s well deserved,” Melancon said of Marte’s honor. “He played his tail off to get there so he’s very much deserving. It’s probably the busiest three or four days of the year but it’s a blast. It’s a good time to be able to talk to other guys around the league and enjoy it.”
This is the sixth consecutive season in which the Pirates are sending multiple representatives to the All-Star Game. 2010 was the last time the Pirates sent one player (Evan Meek) to the contest.
Hurdle described breaking the news to Marte by calling him into the office around 2:30 p.m.
“I told him it was another good first half and he was getting better every year,” said Hurdle. “I then told him I had a duffle bag over here with the All-Star Logo and his name on it. I told him he might need this. Then we took him from room-to-room because it was early. We just walked him around and he was visibly shaking. It was awesome the way the team received him.”
Marte initially joined the team as a non-drafted free agent in 2007 and is the first non-drafted Pirates free agent to make the All-Star Team since Carlos Garcia in 1994.
Entering play Saturday, Marte ranked ninth in the National League with a .316 batting average. Additionally, he ranks second in the NL with 27 stolen bases, fourth in multi-hit games (31), sixth in hits (97) and is tied for second with nine outfield assists.
Since the 2013 season, Marte’s first full major league campaign, he has 128 stolen bases which is third in the National League.
Marte’s arm has placed fear in many teams who think twice about running on him. The fear was developed because the 2015 Gold Glove winner has 25 outfield assists to date since the start of last season.
When Marte was initially not named to the All-Star Team by fans, coaches and players, he was one of five to make the NL Final Vote.
Various ESPN personalities suggested Marte should get the Final Vote nod because he can provide an impact off the bench with his powe, speed and fielding.
Now Marte will possibly get that chance to show off all of those attributes in a national spotlight.
“This year is very memorable for Marte because I thought he was well deserved and we talked about it yesterday,” Pirates Clubhouse Manager Scott Bonnett said. “Being in first place early in the final day (of the final vote) and then falling to second was a little bit of a letdown for him. I just told him to keep his head up that he was an All-Star. He had a nice big smile when he came in Saturday and that made it all worth it.”
