What Happens if Diamondbacks Ketel Marte Requires an IL Stint?

As the Diamondbacks and their fans hold their breath waiting for the results of Marte's MRI, we look into the depth options the team has.

Aug 10, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte (4) reacts after a collision with Philadelphia Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs (21) (not shown) at second base in the fourth inning during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports / Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

On Saturday night Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte suffered what the team called a "left ankle contusion" on a collision at second base with Garrett Stubbs of the Phillies. Removed from the game, he took the day off on Sunday and returned to the lineup on Monday night. Torey Lovullo explained putting him back in the lineup.

"He tried to just gut it out today. I texted him through the morning before we all got here and he said that he was still feeling some pain but he was going to try to play. The pre game prep was good enough for us to feel like we could ask him to do it, and he continued to say that he was ready to go."

But one swing into his at bat in the first inning Marte appeared to roll the ankle and crumpled to the ground. He got up to finish the at bat after a visit from the trainer and Lovullo. After flying out to deep right field, he hobbled down to first base and back off the field. Marte told his manager he could stay in the game, but Lovullo sent Kevin Newman out to play second base.

Notably, when discussiing the injury Lovullo post game he did not use the term ankle contusion. He described the injury as follows: "It's a little bit of a re-aggravation of the original injury. It's nothing in the knee. It's above the ankle in the joint there."

Marte is being sent for an MRI Tuesday morning that Lovullo seemed to describe as precautionary in nature to "put everybody's mind at ease. We feel very strongly that it's going to come back in a positive way."

Marte is batting .298 with 30 homers and 81 RBI. By adding in his Gold Glove caliber defense, he now leads the National League with 6.2 WAR, slightly ahead of the Dodgers Shohei Ohtani, who has 6.0.

The D-backs have been able to withstand the injury to Christian Walker by picking up the red hot Josh Bell at the July 30th trade deadline. Adrian Del Castillo was called up to replace the injured Gabriel Moreno, and he's started his major league career in explosive fashion. It may be more difficult to replicate anything close to Marte's production however.

If Marte requires an injured list stint the most likely move is to simply insert Kevin Newman as the every day second baseman. Beyond that they might recall Blaze Alexander from Triple-A Reno to serve as utility infield depth until Marte returns. Another option would be to add switch hitter Sergio Alcantara to the 40-man roster and call him up instead of Alexander.

While there is no replacing Marte's production, Newman has had a good season. He's filled in at shortstop in Geraldo Perdomo's absence. Since Perdomo's return he's slotted in as a reserve all round the diamond, including some innings at first base.

Newman is batting .280/.315/.386, .700 OPS with two homers and 23 RBI in 256 PA.

Alexander began the season on the major league roster and was hot in April, batting .312 with a .941 OPS in 70 PA. He had difficulty on defense however, making numerous costly errors and defensive gaffes. That caused him to start to lose playing time to Newman

While Alexander settled down on defense, he started to slump at the plate. In a reduced role he got just 105 PA from May 1st to June 30th and hit .227/.279/.247, .526 OPS,. That slash line included 30 strikeouts and just four walks. When Alek Thomas returned from his Hamstring injury Alexander was optioned to Reno.

Alexander hit just .214 in July, but has gotten hot in August, going 12-37, .324 with six extra base hits. He's made only two errors in 119 chances split between shortstop, third base, and second base.

Alexander and Newman are both right-hand batters who hit left-hand pitching better than right, so do not make a natural platoon. That's where Sergio Alcantara comes in. The switch hitter is better batting left-handed against right-hand pitching.

This year in AAA he's batting .273 with an .808 OPS in 287 PA vs. right-hand pitching and in his major league career he has a .655 OPS vs. righties compared to a .546 OPS vs. lefties.

Alcantara was originally signed by the Diamondbacks as a 16 year old out of the Dominican Republic back in 2012. The D-backs traded him to the Detroit Tigers at the 2017 deadline as part of the J.D. Martinez deal. He made his MLB debut in 2017.

He's bounced around since then, including two separate stints back with the D-backs in 2022. That year he hit .241 with a .688 OPS, including six homers with Arizona. The highlight of that season was a 10th inning walkoff homer against Craig Kimbrel and the Dodgers on September 14th.

It should be noted that top prospect Jordan Lawlar has been on the injured list with a hamstring injury and is just now working his way back towards playing minor league rehab games. He is not an option for a call up to the major league team at this juncture.

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