Starling Marte plays another full rehab game as he nears Mets return

Starling Marte played nine innings with Triple-A Syracuse in his second consecutive full game during his rehab assignment and went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly.

The outfielder, recovering from a right knee bone bruise, is expected to return to Citi Field on Saturday and possibly be activated on Sunday.

It will be curious how the Mets use the 35-year-old, who hit pretty well (.745 OPS) before the injury but had been a liability in right field. J.D. Martinez is their everyday DH, and lefty-hitting Jesse Winker was added at the trade deadline to hit righty pitchers.

It is possible the righty-hitting Marte is used often against lefty pitchers, but manager Carlos Mendoza did not call him a platoon player.

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“He’s a big part of this ballclub,” the manager said before beating the Marlins, 7-3, at Citi Field . “We’re going to need him, and we’re going to need all of those guys. I’ll mix and match.”

Dedniel Nunez threw a 20-pitch live batting practice in his first time facing hitters since a right pronator strain was found following his July 23 outing.

If he bounces back well, Nunez could begin a rehab assignment Tuesday with Syracuse, Mendoza said.

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“I feel 100 percent healthy, and I’m excited about it,” Nunez said through interpreter Alan Suriel.

The Mets have fired several scouts in the past few days, according to several reports that Stearns did not want to confirm or deny.

“We have a very large scouting staff,” Stearns said. “We will continue to have a very large scouting staff.”

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Stearns was asked about the ESPN report that floated an idea going through MLB in which starting pitchers would have to pitch a minimum of six innings in a start (with several pitch-count and runs-allowed loopholes).

“I am all for continuing to discuss and ultimately implementing ways where we can both enhance the importance of starting pitching in our game and hopefully limit the injuries of starting pitchers in our game,” Stearns said. “I think we are a long way away from completely implementing something as drastic as a six-inning rule.”

Jeff McNeil’s two-run home run in the fourth inning was his 250th career extra-base hit, breaking a tie with Keith Hernandez and Todd Hundley for 17th all-time in Mets history.

— Additional reporting by Bridget Reilly

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