Pirates/MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates
Top hitting prospect Starling Marte is on his way to the Major Leagues, per Mike Vukovcan.
Marte will join the team in Houston for their four game series starting tomorrow night. Marte, 24, is hitting .286 with 12 home runs and 62 RBIs, including 21 stolen bases.
The Pirates internally have been debating a callup of Marte for about two-three weeks now, yet in what has been odd for a player who was clearly on the verge of a callup, GM Neal Huntington has tried put down Marte being MLB ready at nearly every point publicly in the past couple weeks. Last week on two different radio stations, Huntington mentioned that people should remember Marte had a poor May and that he is still struggling at times with his command of the strike zone as a hitter.
Then Huntington on his weekly radio appearance, the “Neal Huntington show” this past Sunday, Huntington said Marte is “in a rough patch, and that he “hasn’t gotten the results {lately}” and “he’s chasing a bit.”
Marte is hitting .220 in his last 10 games but has swung the bat well this week, hitting .364 in his last 5 games.
The 55-42 Pirates are currently two games back of the Cincinnati Reds (57-40) in the NL Central.
