Starling Marte’s sore knee problem isn’t going away in slow spring training ramp-up

PORT ST. LUCIE — Don’t expect to see Starling Marte in Grapefruit League games for the Mets anytime soon.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday that Marte, who is still dealing with knee soreness, will begin taking live batting practice in March, though that will be on back fields.

“Some good days, some not so good,” Mendoza said of Marte’s knee. “Still finding that balance [of] when is too much, when we need to pull back. But he hasn’t stopped doing any baseball activity at all. It’s more the running progression, so he’s still going through that.”

The concerning part of Marte’s slow ramp-up this spring is that he has been dealing with the knee soreness since last summer, and eight months later there doesn’t seem to be much improvement.

He missed nearly two months with the injury last year and struggled when he returned in August — hitting .244/.324/.311 with a lowly .635 OPS, no home runs and 10 RBIs in 28 games to finish the regular season.

Marte, 36, played just 94 and 86 games the past two seasons, respectively, and his days as an everyday outfielder appear behind him — particularly with the addition of Juan Soto.