Pirates' Starling Marte: Last game move to DL perplexing

Pirates GM Neal Huntington remained cryptic as to why Marte (back) was placed on the 15-day DL Sunday. "A paperwork move," Huntington told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "He's missed a large majority of (September), unlike some of the other guys like (Francisco) Cervelli, who are banged up. We felt it was useful for a variety of reasons to note that he went on the DL."

The move could be construed as unusual, considering the team reportedly had little to gain, financially or otherwise. There's some thought that management is disappointed with Marte's inability to stay on the field -- he started only one game after Sept. 5. For his part, Marte sounded frustrated with his finish. "I'm not happy about that because my back (hurt), and I only played one game, then my back felt bad again," Marte said. "That happens. I was still working on my back. I was working to get back into the lineup, but it still hurt." Despite missing 33 games, the outfielder set a number of career highs, including stolen bases (47) and OPS (.818).