Starling Marte Fantasy News and Statistics

Nobody in baseball has more to prove in 2018 than Starling Marte. The Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder showed no power after his PED suspension, leaving fans wondering just how much the drugs helped him at the dish. He’s still a fleet-footed athlete, but the once-dependable outfielder was not a great source of Dober Fantasy Points last year. Now, it’s time to find out which Marte is the real Marte. He’s a nice gamble if he can come close to his .288/.344/.439 career slash line, particularly with his 43 steals per 162 games played. That Marte is an elite fantasy option, but the 2017 version of Marte is not.

2017: It’s hard to find a player with a worse season in 2017 than Marte. After taking over the centerfield position from Andrew McCutchen in the preseason, he disappointed the Pirates fans, his fantasy owners and his family when he was nabbed for PED use and slapped with a suspension lasting half the season. Upon his return, Marte returned to left field and failed to come anywhere near his career numbers, ending with a .275 average, .333 OBP and .379 slugging. His OPS was .712 and he had only 16 extra-base hits in 77 games. He was, at least, able to provide 21 stolen bases, but he was a shell of his former self with a drop of more than 100 points in his OPS and more than 30 points in his OPS+ (down to 87).