Ketel Marte's Quad and D-backs Infield Depth

Looking ahead to what might happen if Marte misses any significant time

During yesterday's painful loss the Twins Ketel Marte had to be removed from the game in the 5th inning after experiencing left quad tightness. The team has listed him as day to day, and Torey Lovullo downplayed the injury after the game, making it sound more precautionary.  Marte himself insisted he would be ready to play on Tuesday when the team faces the Dodgers. 

Hopefully it's exactly what Lovullo and Marte said it is, a minor issue that will resolve quickly with treatment and not be a recurring issue. Any extended period of time without Marte would be a disaster for the Diamondbacks. The offense has been struggling mightily as whole for the last six weeks, but Marte remains one of the team's best hitters, batting .283/.359/.496, .855 OPS,  with 18 homers, a league leading seven triples, and 73 runs scored while batting either second or first most of the year. With Marte's history of soft tissue and hamstring injuries however, it's only natural to think ahead should this quad issue become something more serious and require him miss time. 

Before we examine the middle infield options below, It should be noted that the Diamondbacks infield depth has already been thinned out a bit due to Evan Longoria's back issue. Placed on the injured list July 29th with a lower back strain, it was originally hoped he would only require the minimum 10 days on the injured list. He had a setback during the recent  road trip however and left the team on August 4th to get treatment back in Phoenix.  As such, there is no specific time table for his return.  While he is a third base and DH option, there are effects from his absence as well, as we'll see below.  

Option 1

The first indication of what the team might do most often to plug the hole should Marte miss time came in yesterday's game. Nick Ahmed came in to play shortstop and Geraldo Perdomo slid over to second base.  Ahmed has played sparingly this year, making just 43 out of 113 possible starts at shortstop. Perdomo has made 70 starts at short and also 10 starts at second base. In any Marte absence, the most frequent middle infield alignment we would be likely to see is simply Ahmed at short and Perdomo at second. 

Option 2

Newly acquired Jace Peterson was brought in to replace Josh Rojas as the left hand platoon option at third base, and also provide depth at second base. Peterson actually has more innings at second than third in his career, but most of those innings came back in 2015-16 with the Braves. He's played sparingly at second base since, and has rated below average at the position. But he did make nine starts and played 137 innings there with the A's this season and can certainly be used at second when Torey wants to sit Ahmed against a tough right hand pitcher.  

That would leave the team exposed at third base against right hand pitching however, as Emmanuel Rivera does hot hit righties well. Even with the option to use Peterson at second base notwithstanding, the team would still need another infielder to provide depth should Marte go on the IL. There are two infielders on the 40-man roster that are call up candidates.

Option 3

Diego Castillo has been playing both second, short, and left field for the Reno Aces this year. Picked up in a trade with the Pirates last December, Castillo has major league experience, having played in 96 games for the Pirates in 2022.  He didn't hit well, batting .206/.251/.382 in 283 plate appearances. The right handed hitting Castillo had a .788 OPS against left hand pitching but just .449 against RHP. He rated -7 defensive runs saved according to Baseball Reference.  

Castillo has enjoyed hitting in the Pacific Coast League, and especially at home in Reno. His triple slash for the Aces this year is .334/.438/.441 in 390 PA,  good for a 124 wRC+ which is roughly 24% better than the league average. He only has three homers, but has 26 doubles and has walked more than he's struck out, (62 BB to 53 K).  He's made just two errors at short and two at second.  Castillo was briefly called up at the trade deadline to provide depth, but then optioned right back to Reno after Peterson was activated.  Because of his experience and the fact the team already called him up once, albeit very briefly, this would appear the most likely depth move they might make.

Option 4

Blaze Alexander is a 24 year old short stop prospect with a cannon for an arm. Last year was a break out season for him at the plate, hitting 20 homers in just 406 plate appearances while slashing .301/.389/.540, most of that coming in Double-A Amarillo, an extreme hitters environment.  He began 2023 red hot for Triple-A Reno, going 11 for 24, .458 with three doubles, a triple, and a homer before getting hit on the hand and suffering a fractured thumb. After  six rehab games in the ACL he finally returned to the Aces on June 13th, two months to the day after the injury

Since returning he's played in 34 games and hit just .254/.324/.426 in 142 PA with six doubles and five homers. Plate discipline has never been his strong suit, and he has 12 walks and 42 strikeouts since returning.  Alexander can occasionally be error prone, but he has the physical tools to flash the leather and rely on his plus plus arm to throw runners out on close plays.  The team may not feel or he is quite yet ready, or may not wish to start his service clock, but he should be on the radar for a potential call up nonetheless, if not now in case of a Marte injury, then in September. 

Option 5

Kolten Wong was released by the Mariners last week. The 32 year old veteran, who posted a 118 OPS+ just last year along with 3.1 WAR was having a horrific  2023 season. Wong slumped to a .165 batting average and .468 OPS, (34 OPS+)  in 216 PA. His defense, long considered gold glove caliber, also has rated out at -5 rDRS too. All the above resulted in -0.5 WAR and Wong's release.  While there are internal options listed above, it's not outside the realm of possibility the team could turn in that direction, believing they could help him revive his career.