NL WILD CARD SERIES: METS VS BREWERS

October 3, 2024

Starling Marte

American Family Field

New York Mets

Pregame Press Conference

Q. You've been having some better results at the plate the past couple weeks. How comfortable do you feel, and when was the last time you might have felt this comfortable?

STARLING MARTE: I feel good, thank God. I'm just really focused on the plan that the pitcher has for me, the guys that are trying to get me out. Once I get on base, I just -- my mindset is to try to score.

I'm taking what the pitcher gives me. I'm not trying to do too much. So I'm just really trying to do whatever the team needs from me to win a game. But honestly, the way that I feel, I feel really good, thank God.

Q. How would you describe your relationship or dynamic with Brewers manager, Pat Murphy?

STARLING MARTE: He's a great person. Obviously we have a good relationship, dating back to when I was in Pittsburgh and he was in Pittsburgh. We never talk about baseball. We always talk about family, how we're doing.

So any opportunity that I get to have a conversation with him, it's always good one. Up until now, we still have a really good relationship.

Q. He said that you talk smack to him when you steal bases against his teams; is that true?

STARLING MARTE: Yeah, it's always been, like since my days in Pittsburgh when I would get on base and steal a base, it's always just a couple words, a couple motivating words of trash talk, one would say. But it's always just more lighthearted than anything.

He's always been the type of person that notices the talent of a player and how hard a player works. So once I noticed that, I thought it was important to try to create a relationship with him because he is a great person.

No, it's always pretty lighthearted trash talk.

Q. With the way the Brewers steal bases, is it important for you at all to establish yourself as a base stealing threat just to let them know, hey, two can play at this game, the Mets are capable of doing this too?

STARLING MARTE: I don't really have to say much or do too much. I know the type of player I am. Once I get to first base, they already have it in their minds that I'm going, and in my mind, I'm going to go.

It allows me to play my game, but it also puts pressure on the pitcher to make mistakes and maybe leave a ball up in the zone or try to rush something. With a single, I can score from first. On a double, I can score.

At the end of the day, we can't try to do what they do. We have to play our game the way we know how to play baseball.

Q. Stealing bases has always been a part of your game, an important part of your game. So what, if anything, have you learned from Antoan Richardson this year, and what do you think he's brought to the team?

STARLING MARTE: Yeah, he focuses on a lot of things, but I think his main focus is helping us improve in the outfield. He's a great person. He sits down and watches a lot of video to see if -- how we can improve on the base pads, how we can improve in any facet of our game.

I think that when you have a person like that on your side, it brings out the best in the team and the players that he coaches.

Q. You're a veteran, and you've played in winner-take-all games like this before. What kind of message can you portray to some of the younger players in the clubhouse, and what's the overall mentality of the guys in the clubhouse going into today's game?

STARLING MARTE: I would just say that this is another game, like the 162 that we've played before this. Just to continue to play your game and not try to do too much and things that you're not accustomed to doing.

There will be more fans. They will be a lot louder. So for a person that hasn't played in this type of environment, it may create a little bit more pressure, but at the end of the day, I think what we have to go do is continue to play our game and play the right way.

Q. When you hurt your knee and missed a couple of months, I think there was wonder about what you would look like when you came back. Did you always have confidence that you could be the same player that you've always been?

STARLING MARTE: Yeah, I think so. I think first when you get hit with a lower body injury, you may feel like you may be a little bit more limited to being able to do what you want to do, but I listened to the trainers. I was able to recover the right way.

When I ended up coming back and I started practicing, started ramping up, starting taking my rehab games, I started to feel good. When I came up, they saw me stealing bases, they saw me playing hard the way that I always have in my career. At that point, it's more of just do what you do, do what I've always done because, if you slow down, that may actually be worse for me.

Yeah, I just kind of go out there and play hard every single day, and I try to help the team win in any single facet of the game. With my motivation and with my drive and my intensity in the game, I think that way I provide a benefit to the team.