New York Mets lineup features major upgrade for Game 1

The New York Mets dropped their lineup for Game 1 of the NLDS, with a nice surprise for fans at Citi Field — outfielder Starling Marte is back.

New York’s Game 1 lineup will look a little more like their starting nine in early September — that is, Marte will be directly involved.

Marte suffered a finger injury in September, and has missed the last few weeks as a result. Many thought he wouldn’t be named to the postseason roster whatsoever. After Marte was added to the roster, ESPN’s Buster Olney provided an injury update on the 33-year-old:

“The Mets worked out Starling Marte Thursday afternoon, before the media was in the building. Wearing a splint he finds comfortable, he took live BP against pitchers — and told the staff he felt ok. He wanted more BP, but they shut it down to save the swings. So here we go,” Olney wrote.

This is just a few days after manager Buck Showalter said that Marte was struggling to even hold a baseball.

Mets outfielder Starling Marte makes major injury turnaround

Marte wasn’t the only surprise on the New York Wild Card roster, as Darin Ruf and Francisco Alvarez were added as well. Ruf struggled ever since he was acquired by the San Francisco Giants, to the point Mets fans were calling for him to be DFA’d post-trade deadline.

Alvarez, meanwhile, is the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball. His first MLB hit was a 439-foot home run, so New York hopes he can flash some of that power if called upon this series.

As for Marte, he will at the very least be a baserunning and pinch-hitting threat this series, and he brings stable defense to right field or center field, depending on how the Mets plan to employ him.