{"id":15865,"date":"2016-03-02T09:04:08","date_gmt":"2016-03-02T17:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/marte-set-for-first-full-season-as-shortstop\/"},"modified":"2016-03-02T09:04:08","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T17:04:08","slug":"marte-set-for-first-full-season-as-shortstop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/marte-set-for-first-full-season-as-shortstop\/","title":{"rendered":"Marte set for first full season as shortstop"},"content":{"rendered":"

PEORIA, Ariz.<\/strong> \u2014 Last spring, Ketel Marte wasn\u2019t close to making Seattle\u2019s opening day roster, optioned to Triple-A Tacoma just a few weeks into spring training.<\/p>\n

A year and a lengthy major league stint later, Marte is set to begin the season as the starting shortstop for the Mariners. He\u2019s already in the lineup with many other regulars for the exhibition opener Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Marte made his big league debut last July 31 after appearing in the MLB Futures Game for the World team and making the Pacific Coast League All-Star team. He finished the season with a .283 batting average in 57 games, and 19 of his 62 hits went for extra bases. He also played exclusively at shortstop from Aug. 15 to season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing I have to do is keep working hard like how I did to get here in past years. I just have to be consistent, humble and hope everything goes well,\u201d Marte said in Spanish. \u201cI learned to play in the minors. I learned that I can\u2019t control the game, that if I carry humility with me day after day with how I work the success will come.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a confidence with Marte, too. He said he wasn\u2019t surprised he made the majors at a young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked for this. Things were going great last season,\u201d Marte said. \u201cIf you work hard for something you hope for days like this. You have to have fun and not be stressed. Everyone wants to have a good experience so you have to make it fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marte also learned a great deal last season from teammate and second baseman Robinson Cano, also from the Dominican Republic. That relationship and work together has carried over into this spring on the back fields of the team complex.<\/p>\n

Marte said every Dominican player who signs with the Mariners wants to be part of an infield combination with Cano, a hero in his native land.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s shown me how to play at the highest level. Robbie Cano has helped me a lot and I\u2019m really grateful for that,\u201d Marte said. \u201cIt\u2019s been fun for me and a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Mariners veterans have helped Marte become a major leaguer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbove all, you have to learn from veteran players like Felix (Hernandez) and Nelson Cruz who are Latinos and are always trying to help,\u201d Marte said. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned is how to control the game. Here you have to play controlled and take things smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marte\u2019s offensive production has always been solid, with a .290 career minor-league batting average. He\u2019s focused on his defense in spring training as he looks to hold onto his job in the big leagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to try to improve that every day. Everybody knows I can hit,\u201d Marte said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have much problem hitting at Triple-A, but I can get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cano said the second year is always tough for a young player because pitchers are now more familiar with Marte.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe listens, and we\u2019ve got a bunch of guys here . he can get any kind of advice from guys who played this game seven, eight, nine years.\u201d Cano said.<\/p>\n

The Mariners\u2019 decision-makers, too, seem more focused on how Marte will field his position.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a chance to be an outstanding, dynamic player in this league. But a lot times you see it, players come up, they have that burst, they get off to a good start and then they take a tick backwards,\u201d manager Scott Servais said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be really important to us on the defensive side as much as anything else. Offense comes and goes. He\u2019s going to hit his hot streaks and cold streaks. But making the plays he\u2019s supposed to make in the middle of our field is going to determine how his season is going.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

NOTES:<\/strong> The Mariners open spring training play against the San Diego Padres, their baseball complex neighbors. LHP James Paxton gets the start and is scheduled to go two innings or 35-40 pitches. … OF-DH Cruz didn\u2019t take part in Tuesday\u2019s team workout and will be held out Wednesday due to mild knee soreness. Servais said it isn\u2019t an issue. … LHP Mike Montgomery will miss a few days after having a cyst removed from his neck via surgery this week. … New Mariners Norichika Aoki (LF), Adam Lind (1B), Chris Iannetta (C) and Leonys Martin (CF) are in Wednesday\u2019s lineup for their first games with the club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PEORIA, Ariz. \u2014 Last spring, Ketel Marte wasn\u2019t close to making Seattle\u2019s opening day roster, optioned to Triple-A Tacoma just a few weeks into spring training. A year and a lengthy major league stint later, Marte is set to begin the season as the starting shortstop for the Mariners. He\u2019s already in the lineup with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":15866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-15865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15865"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}