Ahead of their series against the Houston Astros, the Diamondbacks activated second baseman Ketel Marte from the 10-day injured list. Marte had been out since August 19 with a left ankle injury originally suffered on August 10 after aggravating the injury in two of the following three games he played. He’ll start as the designated hitter and bat leadoff against Astros left-hander Framber Valdez.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo did his weekly appearance on The Burns & Gambo Show on Arizona Sports radio to explain the decision and what they want to see from their best player.
“We feel like he’s in a good enough place to not re-injure anything. But we just got to make sure that he’s feeling good about putting that load on his lower half and just recognizing where he’s at in the box and on the field.”
Lovullo described the return to play situation as “fluid” and are less likely to be aggressive in pushing him like they did with Christian Walker. The coaching and medical staff will re-evaluate Marte following the game and see where he’s at for Saturday’s day game against Houston.
“So we’re going to probably make those decisions piece by piece, day by day. Get through tonight, talk to him, see where he’s at tomorrow and see if he’s in the lineup again tomorrow.”
The Diamondbacks have to make sure their best player is healthy the rest of the way, because he’s the type of player who can carry this team through the postseason. He proved that last year, winning the National League Championship Series’ Most Valuable Player Award and set a new major league record 21-game hitting streak in postseason play. He’s hitting .298 with 30 home runs, 81 RBI, and a .930 OPS, proving to be one of the most valuable players in the National League in 2024.
The pieces are slowly coming together for the Diamondbacks, who are trying to get healthy down the stretch. They’re still without starting catcher Gabriel Moreno, who’s been out since August 5 with a groin injury. Lovullo said that Moreno got five at-bats in a simulated game, but did not play defense.
“He’s got to be able to squat and then get on his knees to block balls and do all the things that catchers do.”
Arizona catchers have been under siege since Moreno has been out. Both José Herrera and Adrian Del Castillo have had issues stopping teams from running on them, although the pitchers have also contributed to the problem. The two catchers have combined to allow 42 stolen bases in 44 attempts, as Jack Sommers from Diamondbacks on SI points out on X.
#Dbacks Catchers
There are issues with these stats, as it matters who caught who, and when they caught them. But it's wild and surprising that ERA and batting against between Gabi-Herrera IDENTICAL
Del Castillo not so much
Josie & Del 42 SB, 2 CS ???? pic.twitter.com/n8pFwD7tdc
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) September 6, 2024
According to Baseball Savant, Del Castillo has the worst pop time to second base of all Diamondbacks catchers at 2.03, which is 0.03 seconds slower than the MLB average of 2.00. Herrera clocks in at a solid 1.92 and Moreno is ninth amongst all catchers with at least five throws to second base at 1.89.
“We need Gabi. He’s a run-stopper. He shuts everything down.”
The Diamondbacks will have to wrestle with whether or not to start taking away playing time from a struggling Del Castillo. In addition to the issues throwing to second base, he’s dramatically cooled off at the plate. He’s got one hit in his last 17 at-bats, with nine strikeouts and one walk over that stretch. The league has adjusted after Del Castillo torched them for his first 10 games, hitting .361 with three home runs. In his last 10, he’s gone without an extra-base hit.
“As far as Adrian Del Castillo, he’s been doing all that he can every single day to become the best version of himself. He had some huge hits early in the year. Helped us win some games, so we’re aware of that. The league’s smart, the league is pitching to him. It’s now time for Del to make a couple of subtle adjustments, not overhauls, not big-time changes, but just some subtle, subtle adjustments, and he’s going to be fine.”
Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
