The Arizona Diamondbacks have been one of the most surprising teams in baseball this season. Despite trading away assets like franchise first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and losing outfielder Steven Souza for the season due to an ACL injury, the Diamondbacks have been in playoff contention all year. A major reason for their success has been the sensational play of superutility stud Ketel Marte.
Marte first came up with the Seattle Mariners after he was signed as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2010. Marte made his debut with Seattle in 2015, but he was mostly underwhelming in his first two seasons, and the Mariners shipped him off to the Diamondbacks prior to the 2017 season.
After starting his Diamondbacks tenure in the minor leagues, Marte eventually became a fixture of Arizona's lineup, and he became just the eighth player in MLB history to hit two triples in a playoff game when he recorded a pair of three-baggers against the Colorado Rockies.
The momentum carried into 2018, when Marte led the league with 12 triples and posted career highs in homers (14), RBI (59) and slugging percentage (.437). Heading into his third season with the DBacks, Marte was deemed a potential breakout candidate. But it is unlikely anyone expected him to play at an MVP level.
Inherent value
For starters, Ketel Marte possesses immediate value as a switch-hitter that can play multiple positions, all at a very high level.
Marte has been one of the best defensive centerfielders in the game this season. In 560 2/3 innings of action as the “captain” of the outfield, Marte has posted 10 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and an Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) of 7.6, which projects to 17.3 UZR/150, according to FanGraphs.
But aside from his speed and excellent instincts, Marte is also quite nifty with his glove work in the infield. He has played sparingly at shortstop, but has consistently proven he is more than competent playing at second, and his ability to slot in up the middle or in the outfield offers a host of options for Diamondbacks manager Torey Luvollo.
Unlike his teammate Eduardo Escobar–and really, unlike most switch-hitters–Marte has been equally as dangerous from both sides of the dish.
His slash line against righties: .315/.387/.549 with 15 homers and a 146 sOPS+. Against lefties: .329/.367/.631 with 12 homers and a 155 sOPS+.
In other words, Marte is going to be a problem whether he faces a veteran starting pitcher or a left-handed specialist from either side of the rubber. He has not been exploited for any perceived “weakness,” and he hits for average and power from both sides.
Again, this quality is something that has been a massive asset for a DBacks team that has dealt with roster overhaul and injuries to the likes of David Peralta. Arizona ranks fifth in the National League, mostly because Marte has been a run-producer in addition to a table-setter.
Where is the love?
Despite clearly being one of the best all-around players in baseball this season, Ketel Marte is still not really getting his due from reporters and fans. Yes, Marte was voted to be the starting second baseman for the National League in the All-Star Game, but that can mostly be attributed to a red-hot first half that nobody really saw coming.
So, where is the love for Marte now, considering he is having an even better second half? Through his first 34 games after the All-Star break, Marte was slashing .341/.435/.614 with seven homers and a 170 sOPS+. He has already equaled his first-half mark of four triples and four stolen bases, and he has already drawn 20 walks after drawing 26 through his first 87 games.
Entering play on Thursday, Marte led the National League with 155 hits, which also ranked fifth in baseball. He ranks 33rd in barrels and is in the top six percent of the league in wOBA, according to MLB Statcast.
Marte ranks 4th in fWAR behind Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich, all of whom are the presumptive MVP favorites in their respective leagues. Yet, he is still not getting the same notoriety as other players despite his obvious talent at the dish and in the field.
Consider this tweet from MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman:
Mike Soroka and Fernando Tatis Jr. are terrific but Pete Alonso is the NL Rookie of the Year (and a possible top 5 in MVP voting, too — might be Bellinger, Yelich, Acuna Jr., Rendon, Alonso at moment)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 21, 2019
Bellinger and Yelich are the leading favorites to win the NL MVP. It also makes sense why Heyman would include Rendon (another exceedingly underrated talent) and Acuna (on pace to be the youngest 40-40 player in MLB history). But to suggest that Alonso deserves to be placed over Marte in the MVP voting is utterly absurd.
Granted, Alonso has put up staggering offensive numbers. He just set the record for most homers by an NL rookie, and he ranks seventh in baseball with a 147 wRC+ value. However, he is nowhere close to the defender that Marte is, nor is he the same caliber of base runner as Ketel Marte.
Even with respect to Acuna, there is reason to suggest that Marte has been more valuable. Acuna plays on one of the most dangerous lineups in all of baseball, hitting in front of steady offensive threats like Freddie Freeman, who is also one of baseball's most under appreciated stars.
He benefits on the bases in that regard as well. There are so many moving parts for the opposing battery when Acuna is on base and Freeman or Josh Donaldson are at the plate.
Acuna also strikes out at a much higher rate (10 percent) than Marte, and they have similar walk rates. While Acuna has made his own improvements as a defensive outfielder after finding a more permanent home in center, Marte has still been far superior.
Time to take notice
One of the other reasons that guys like Rendon, Acuna and Alonso are likely to garner more attention has to do with the respective markets that they play in, all of which are bigger than Phoenix, AZ.
Of course, there is absolutely nothing that Marte can do about those extraneous factors. All he can do is go out and compete for his team on a consistent basis, which he has done all season long for the Diamondbacks.
Arizona certainly put a dent in their playoff hopes when they elected to sell ace Zack Greinke at the trade deadline. However (as of Thursday), they are still only 4.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. The DBacks have the fifth-best run differential in the National League, and they might have a September run in the cards.
So pay some more attention to Ketel Marte, who has developed into one of the best young talents in baseball.
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