Starling Marte Carted Off with Injury After Scary Collision with Erik Gonzalez

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Starling Marte left Friday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park after suffering an apparent injury to his upper body. 

Per KDKA CBS 2 in Pittsburgh, Marte was carted off the field after colliding with shortstop Erik Gonzalez in the eighth inning.       

Marte and Gonzalez were attempting to catch a pop up when they ran into each other. 

The 30-year-old dealt with a back injury in 2016 and played 129 games. He was suspended 80 games in 2017 for violating Major League Baseball's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

He bounced back in 2018 and played 145 games with a career-high 20 home runs and 72 RBI. He also slashed .277/.327/.460 with 33 stolen bases, marking the fifth time in his career he reached the 30 stolen-base mark.

Coming into Friday's game, Marte was hitting .215/.261/.400 with seven extra-base hits and three stolen bases this season.

Marte uses his speed on the basepaths and to patrol the outfield as one of the better defensive presences in baseball. He was responsible for 80 defensive runs saved in the outfield in his career entering the 2019 campaign, per FanGraphs.

Look for the Pirates to turn toward JB Shuck in the outfield while Marte is sidelined. He is versatile enough to play any of the three outfield positions and gives Pittsburgh some lineup options even without its starter.