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Watch: Mets' Starling Marte exits spring training game after scary HBP

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated 3/12/23

Starling Marte must be a magnet for baseballs. The oft-plunked 12th-year pro was drilled yet again on Sunday, this time in a Grapefruit League showdown between the Mets and Rays.

On the play in question, a 93 MPH pitch got away from Rays hurler Elvin Rodriguez and caught Marte squarely in the head in the bottom of the fifth inning. Despite having his helmet knocked off, Marte somehow stayed on his feet and was able to leave the field on his own power.

Starling Marte has walked off the field after being hit by a pitch. pic.twitter.com/4p0QYrCZAy
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 12, 2023

Per the Mets, an "initial evaluation" on Marte ruled out a concussion, though the team says they'll reevaluate the outfielder's status on Monday.

This wasn't the first time Marte's taken a pitch to the head. In September 2021, the veteran outfielder missed a game after he was hit up high on a pitch from Toronto Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah.

All told, he has been plunked by a whopping 146 pitches during his career, second-most among active players and good for 25th all-time. While most of Marte's painful free passes to first have been relatively harmless, that has not been the case for all of them.

in 2020 while playing for the Marlins, the outfielder suffered a broken hand after being hit by Chicago Cubs reliever Dan Winkler during Game 1 of the National League Wild Card round, ending his postseason run.

Marte also missed the final 26 games of the 2022 regular season after fracturing his finger on a hit-by-pitch. The 34-year-old would manage to return for the postseason, playing in all three games of the Mets' Wild Card series against the San Diego Padres.

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