Pirates/MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates
After hitting .351/.393/.468 in the month of July, Starling Marte is hitting .225 with 2 home runs and 9 RBIs over his last 28 games.
While the mental lapses for a 5-Tool type player like Marte continue to be frustrating, one debate starting to emerge is whether Marte is fully healthy (Wrist/Oblique), and if not, should the Pirates take advantage of using Josh Harrison in left field to rest Marte more over the next couple weeks?
Marte at one point this season looked primed for a 30 home run / 30 steal season. With 26 stolen bases, he’ll hit the 30 stolen base mark easily. The home run numbers, though, for Marte have seen a significant drop over the last three months.
Marte hit 12 home runs in his first 208 at-bats. He has 3 home runs in his last 257 at-bats.
PIRATES SEE IMPROVED LIZ
Radhames Liz received a $1 million salary from the Pirates in the off-season and opened the season with the club, but Liz was re-assigned to Triple-A in May and never factored back into the Pirates plans until now with the rosters expanding.
Liz, 31, went 4-5 with a 1.40 ERA with the Indians. He struck out 74 batters in 62 2/3 innings.
Tuesday night vs the Brewers in his first big league appearance since May 23, Liz threw two shutout innings of relief vs the Brewers, allowing no hits or walks.
Liz hit 98 on second pitch of the night.
“The stuff, the velocity, the breaking balls, they all worked well,” Hurdle told reporters last night of Liz. “I thought he looked improved, refined. There is a little more polish on him.”
PIRATES LINEUP TONIGHT
1. Gregory Polanco, RF
2. Starling Marte, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Aramis Ramirez, 3B
5. Jung Ho Kang, SS
6. Neil Walker, 2B
7. Pedro Alvarez, 1B
8. Francisco Cervelli, C
9. Jeff Locke, P
