Ketel Marte is Playing His Best Baseball Right Now

Ketel Marte is Playing His Best Baseball Right Now

Ketel Marte is a superstar in the game of baseball. Amid a second potential All-Star campaign, Marte is playing the best baseball of his career. 

Marte in 2019 broke out for the Diamondbacks in his first and only All-Star season. A season that would end with him finishing 4th in NL MVP voting. A slash line of .329/.389/.592, Marte was an extra-base hit machine with 32 home runs, 36 Doubles, with 9 triples. Scoring 97 runs and driving in 92 of his own. Marte was easily a top hitter in baseball and looked to be primed for greater success in following seasons with 2019 only being his age 25 season.

Unfortunately, as we entered the 2020’s Marte did not return to that level of production. Mainly due to injuries, in 2022 he did hit 42 doubles so the extra-base hits were still there. It was 2023 when Marte bounced back to his old self. 25 home runs, 157 hits, a .844 OPS, and 9 triples. All the best since his 2019 campaign. Excluding his 2021 season where he played half the year. The triples were very notable because it was a sign of Marte being in better health with a history of lower body injuries.

Between 2020 and 2022 Marte hit a combined 4 triples in that 3 season span. 2023 pushed him back into that superstar spotlight, especially in the postseason. Being the best player on the Diamondbacks outside of Corbin Carroll. Marte broke records with his 20-game postseason hitting streak and aided the Diamondbacks back to the World Series.

Off the back of that success now into 2024, Marte the superstar is here to stay. In 74 games; Marte has 15 home runs, 16 doubles, and 42 RBIs on .277/.339/.500 splits. His 137 OPS+ is the third-highest mark of his career and can climb even higher in the second half of the year.

Diamondbacks Should Sell High On Ketel Marte

This version of Marte today is miles ahead of when he was 25. The most important distinction is the fact that Marte is a top-10 defender in baseball. Among second basemen he is one of only three players (Marcus Semien and Thairo Estrada) with an Outs Above Average of 9 or better. Ketel Marte was always a good to great player just because of his bat but now adding elite defense on top has made him the complete package going into his 30s. Still the best player in Arizona and one of the best players in the National League. 

This man deserves to be an All-Star, an absolute superstar in baseball.

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