Starling Marte returns to action in Bradenton following suspension

Sitting inside the empty home clubhouse at LECOM Park, Starling Marte expressed regret and still confusion about the 80-game suspension which has held him off the field for the Pirates since April.

For more than 10 minutes, the outfielder faced reporters for the first time since Major League Baseball handed Marte a suspension for his illegal usage of a performance-enhancing drug.

“It was an error. It was something that was a mistake,” Marte said through Hector Morales, Pittsburgh’s coordinator of mental conditioning who served as the outfielder’s translator Sunday in Bradenton. “There’s always something that can help because, to move forward, you’re always trying to be better.”

Marte returned to professional baseball Sunday, and he’ll be spending the first portion of his return with the Marauders. The outfielder, still serving his suspension for using Nadrolone, began his rehab assignment with the Pirates’ Class A Advanced affiliate in Bradenton ahead of his return to Pittsburgh on July 18, when he is eligible to be reinstated.

Marte is an original Marauder. He spent 60 games with the Pirates’ Class A Advanced affiliate during its inaugural season in 2010, batting .315 with 22 stolen bases during his abbreviated stint. He made his MLB debut two years later and has been a staple at LECOM during the spring as one of the primary attractions for fans coming out to see Grapefruit League action. Last year, Marte was an All-Star for the first time, but before he even returned to the field in 2017 and began trying to repeat as a NL All-Star, he found out he would likely miss half the season.

Marte said he was first informed of the looming suspension about two weeks before the season and says it may have affected him in the 13 games he played before the suspension was officially handed down. In 54 at-bats, the 28-year-old batted .241 with two home runs and two stolen bases.

“When you have issues and you’re thinking about something, it does impact the way that your mind stays focused. He’s not going to say 100 percent that his performance was impacted by that,” Morales said, translating for Marte, “but at the same time he was wary, he was thinking in the back of his mind.”

His Pirates teammates, Marte said, were supportive following the suspension, which Marte insists was the product of a mistake.

Marte purchased a supplement himself, although he never cleared it with his own trainer or a trainer from Pittsburgh’s staff. Unwittingly, Marte said, he was using a product which contained Nadrolone, a steroid on the banned-substance list. He was stunned to hear about the failed drug test when he was first informed.

“It’s something that he has learned a significant amount from,” Morales said. “He’s not going to trust anyone that brings or tells him anything. If anybody ever offers him anything or he has to take anything, he is going to always clear it with his trainer and with the organization to ensure what he is taking for his health, and his nutrition, is in accordance with regulations.”

While he knows people’s perception about him will change because of the failed drug test, Marte will spend the next couple weeks focusing on being ready to be a full-time contributor when he’s eligible to be reinstated. He’s spent time working out at Pirate City in Bradenton during the suspension, but will need to get re-acclimated to live at-bats and game speed during his time in the minors. He’ll start with the Florida State League.

“The next two weeks the focus is to put all the effort he needs to in order to be ready as soon as he joins the team in a couple weeks,” Morales said. “He just wants to maximize the opportunities here he needs to get ready.”

This story was originally published July 2, 2017 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Starling Marte returns to action in Bradenton following suspension."