Starling Marte won't be in the Pirates' starting lineup Monday night against the Braves after he was benched by Clint Hurdle for showing a lack of effort in a win over the Cubs one day earlier.
Marte failed to run out a ground ball in the third inning after tripping while exiting the batter's box, and he chose to not get into a rundown between third base and home after getting caught off the bag on a ground ball hit to first baseman Anthony Rizzo in the sixth inning. The center fielder's effort level was questioned by his manager and teammates, Hurdle said, and led to the decision to sit him with the Pirates hosting a fellow National League playoff contender.
"As you saw, earlier in the game he slipped and fell," Hurdle recalled. "He got up and I just talked to him about the effort to finish the play. I thought there could have been better effort to finish the play. So did the fans. It’s the first time I’ve heard the fans; he’s worked his way back into good graces with the fans after what he’s gone through, and they supported him. There was a disappointment from them yesterday. Yeah, for sure. I encouraged him to show effort."
It's the first time Hurdle's benched a star player since his first season as the Pirates' manager in 2011, when he sat Andrew McCutchen for failing to run out a ground ball. He defended Gregory Polanco for choosing to not run out a ground ball against the Diamondbacks this season, saying Polanco was being cautious because of his history of hamstring injuries.
Hurdle didn't accept that excuse this time, though. With one out in the third inning Sunday, Marte hit a ground ball to third base and stumbled out of the box. He chose to not run out the play and was booed by fans while walking back to the Pirates' dugout. Marte, through team interpreter Mike Gonzalez, told reporters Monday afternoon he chose to not run out the ground ball because he wanted to be cautious, but Hurdle confronted him in the dugout after the play:
"The conversation was basically concerning the way I ran to first," Marte said. "Him just pointing out, ‘I understand you slipped, but I would like to see some effort still running down to first.' I completely understand the manager’s point of view and all of that, but in that moment my mentality was oh man, sometimes when you slip and try to force it you can pull an injury. I’m just trying to be safe right now, try to be healthy for the rest of the season, so I didn’t want to risk it."
Marte's having a strong rebound season after his 80-game suspension in 2017. He's batting .275 with a .783 OPS, 17 home runs, 28 stolen bases and 57 RBIs in 100 games. The 29-year-old was a late scratch from the lineup Wednesday in Minneapolis because of an illness, but he's appeared to be healthy since suffering a left oblique strain in May. He doubled in the seventh inning Sunday and hit a ball to the warning track in the 10th.
With Marte on third and one out in the sixth inning Sunday, David Freese hit a ground ball to Rizzo with the infield playing in. Marte disobeyed third base coach Joey Cora's command to not run home and was caught off the bag. Rather than getting in a rundown to allow Freese to take second base, Marte froze and was tagged out:
The Pirates scored only one run in the inning, despite having the first five batters reach safely. "He did not get into the rundown," Hurdle said. "Being told not to go in an infield-in situation. For whatever reason, you wander off the base and then you get stuck and there’s not an effort to get out of it. Yeah, that’s disappointing as well."
Marte accepted responsibility for the mishap: "At the moment, when I recognized how Rizzo was positioned I thought I had a chance and an opportunity. When I noticed that I didn’t have a chance and I looked back and Polanco was already on the bag [at third] and I saw that Freese had no situation there, that’s when I kind of turned towards it but I just kind of gave up on it. Now that I revised and go through the play again I recognized if I would have gotten myself in a rundown situation maybe I would have given an opportunity for my other teammates."
His benching comes on the heels of an ugly four-game series in which the offense scored only five runs, though it managed to win the final two games. In addition to Marte's gaffe, Cora chose to not send Polanco home from third on a fly ball later in the sixth, Kevin Newman was thrown out at home in the seventh and Elias Diaz was picked off at first in the second inning.
The Pirates have won only 10 of 23 games since their 11-game winning streak ended July 24, and they've won only one series in that span. They're now nine games back in the Central Division and have four teams to jump in the Wild Card. Hurdle said he didn't need to bench Marte to show his players the importance of accountability.
"I think they’re well aware of that, and I think there were a number of guys who encouraged him and challenged him yesterday when he got back into the dugout," Hurdle said. "It’s all part of it."
Marte, on the other hand, told reporters he did not hear from his teammates following either play and said he'll accept Hurdle's punishment.
"It’s the decision our manager made, and I respect it. I don’t have a say so over that, and I’m just going to submit to it."