Torey Lovullo on Diamondbacks’ recent play after thrillers at Rangers
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo dives into detail about his squad’s recent performances and Ketel Marte’s late-game heroics.
Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte’s recent heroics are contrasted with teammates’ concerns about his frequent requests for time off.Despite internal frustrations, Marte remains a key player for the Diamondbacks and a trade appears unlikely.
For two days in Texas, Ketel Marte put the Diamondbacks on his shoulders. He clubbed a pair of go-ahead, ninth-inning homers. He made sparkling defensive plays. He ran the bases aggressively. As he often does, he looked like one of the better players in baseball — which he is.
The performance capped what has been a trying stretch for the Diamondbacks and their superstar second baseman.
For the past month, teammates and others in the organization have quietly grumbled about his propensity to ask for days off. They were frustrated by the time off he requested following the burglary of his home, with some believing his departure around the All-Star break set in motion the collapse that led to the Diamondbacks’ trade deadline sell-off.
And some have even wondered how the Diamondbacks would look without him, pondering the idea of an offseason trade.
That, to be clear, appears extremely unlikely: Marte is the kind of superstar teams usually need to win, and the Diamondbacks are not a team loaded with them.
In recent years, some Diamondbacks players have taken to adding a phrase to comments they make when asked about Marte. He is a great player, they say, when he wants to be. They are giving credit while also airing a grievance.
Only Marte can say how his body feels, but his decision to ask for a day off in the final week of the season last year irked teammates. He also raised eyebrows when he said he needed a day off last month in the final game before the break, then was motoring around the bases in Atlanta on a double in the All-Star Game.
It stands in stark contrast to what outfielder Corbin Carroll has done over the past six weeks, playing through a broken bone in his hand because he “felt like I owed it to everyone in here.”
The three games Marte missed after the break might have ruffled the most feathers. He said he lost $400,000 worth of items in a home burglary that took place the night of the All-Star Game and needed time to deal with it, but he spent most of the All-Star break in his native Dominican Republic, and not in Scottsdale where the theft occurred.
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At a time when the team was desperately trying to avoid being a seller at the deadline, Marte was missing key games. One teammate thought it was especially disrespectful to players who live in Arizona — like Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Randal Grichuk and Shelby Miller — who were at risk of having to leave their homes and families behind via trade, which is what happened with the latter three.
While some blame manager Torey Lovullo for giving too much leeway, those who know Marte best say the alternative approach would risk him sulking or shutting down if Lovullo tried to be too firm.
Whether Marte’s absence caused a rift that contributed to the team’s pre-deadline skid — the Diamondbacks were swept by the Houston Astros immediately upon his return and dropped eight of nine before July 31 — the fact remains that the club likely would have been in even worse shape if it didn’t have Marte at all.
There is no denying his ability and value. Marte has accumulated the third-most Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball-Reference, of any player in club history, having passed both Luis Gonzalez and Brandon Webb this season. Marte’s 32.7 WAR trails only Randy Johnson (50.9) and Paul Goldschmidt (39.9).
Might the Diamondbacks consider trading him? Maybe, but finding a deal that makes them better seems unlikely, particularly since he is locked down on a fairly reasonable contract that could run through 2031. Put another way: If he were to be traded, Marte seems almost certain to be the best player in the deal.
More than likely, the status quo is here to stay: That is, a player capable of carrying his team like he did the past two days in Texas. And one capable of frustrating it, as well.