PORT ST. LUCIE — Don’t expect to see Starling Marte in Grapefruit League games for the Mets anytime soon.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday that Marte, who is still dealing with knee soreness, will begin taking live batting practice in March, though that will be on back fields.
“Some good days, some not so good,” Mendoza said of Marte’s knee. “Still finding that balance [of] when is too much, when we need to pull back. But he hasn’t stopped doing any baseball activity at all. It’s more the running progression, so he’s still going through that.”
The concerning part of Marte’s slow ramp-up this spring is that he has been dealing with the knee soreness since last summer, and eight months later there doesn’t seem to be much improvement.
He missed nearly two months with the injury last year and struggled when he returned in August — hitting .244/.324/.311 with a lowly .635 OPS, no home runs and 10 RBIs in 28 games to finish the regular season.
Marte, 36, played just 94 and 86 games the past two seasons, respectively, and his days as an everyday outfielder appear behind him — particularly with the addition of Juan Soto.
But Marte is owed $20.75 million this year, the final season of his four-year, $78 million contract.
The Mets are still adamant he can thrive, even if in a limited role.
“We feel pretty confident in that,” Mendoza said. “What I’m getting from the trainers, what they’re getting from the doctors and from Marte, he’s not worried about it. I check with him every day. We feel pretty good that he’s going to be an impact player for us.”
Like Marte, reliever Dedniel Núñez is not close to seeing game action.
The Mets are ramping him up extra slowly this spring as he recovers from a strained flexor tendon.
“I don’t think we’re gonna see him in games anytime soon,” Mendoza said. “We’re gonna make sure we take care of him. It’s a guy that dealt with a lot. During the offseason, he threw live BPs. He’s still gonna get the ramp-ups and all that. We’ll see him in games [eventually], obviously, but we’re taking it kind of slow with him.”
The Mets shut down Núñez for about a month last year with the injury, and he came back to make one start in late August before being shut down for the rest of the season.
He had emerged as a valuable bullpen piece, owning a 2.31 ERA in 25 outings.
Soto was back in the lineup for Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Astros, going 0-for-1 with a walk in two plate appearances.
He successfully challenged a called strike en route to his walk.
