Ailing Marte could return to lineup Friday

PHILADELPHIA — Left fielder Starling Marte was not in the Pirates’ starting lineup for the ninth straight game Wednesday night, but he could return as soon as Friday.

Marte has been sidelined by lower back spasms, worse than he’s experienced before. The Pirates plan to have their Gold Glove Award-winning outfielder go through a full workout Thursday afternoon before coming back this weekend against the Reds in Cincinnati. With Marte out, Adam Frazier started in left field Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

“He plays hard. This guy goes at it, as you see him diving, stealing, diving headfirst, diving for balls out there,” head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk said of Marte. “He knows he’s not going to be 100 percent. He just wants to get back to a point where he can be competitive. Unfortunately he’s not there right now.

“There’s a lot of different things that cause spasms. Fatigue, dehydration, workload, swinging, diving, catching, the demands of the sport. There’s a lot of variables. There wasn’t really one thing that led to Marte’s. It was probably a combination of them all.”

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