QUEENS — New York Mets right fielder Starling Marte did not suffer a concussion but is still dealing with neck soreness, manager Buck Showalter said on Monday before his team’s series opener against the San Diego Padres. The hope was that he’d be available for Monday night’s game at Citi Field but off the bench.
“The concussed part of it, we think we’re in good shape,” Showalter said. “He took a pretty good pop there.”
The 34-year-old suffered the injury in the first inning when his head collided with Miami Marlins infielder Jean Segura as he slid head-first into third base on a stolen-base attempt.
He was removed from the game in the second inning when Jeff McNeil moved to right field from second base. Following the Mets’ 7-2 loss to Miami on Sunday, Showalter initially labeled the injury as day-to-day.
McNeil was slotted back in at the position for Monday’s tilt against the Padres — the first time the two clubs faced each other since San Diego bounced the Mets from the NL Wild Card series in three games.
Marte was hampered during that series as well, dealing with a hand injury that kept him out of the final month of the regular season. He gutted it out in the playoffs, but he and the Mets were mostly lifeless against Padres pitching.
When healthy, Marte is an invaluable piece at the top of New York’s lineup. Signing with the team in free agency last winter after spending 2021 with the Marlins and Oakland Athletics, he garnered his second-career All-Star appearance in 2022 by batting .292 with an .814 OPS, 16 home runs, 63 RBI, and 18 stolen bases.
Over his first 10 games of the 2023 campaign, Marte was batting .303 (10-for-33) with one home run, two RBI, and four stolen bases.
