Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte is and has been one of the best players on the Arizona roster, but some of his teammates have grown frustrated with him — to the extent that they’ve openly wondered if the club would benefit from trading him, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Among the biggest points of contention? Marte’s absence at the start of the second half after his home was burglarized during the All-Star break.
Here’s more on that particular matter, courtesy of Piecoro:
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.
At the time, the D-backs were attempting to convince the front office to buy or stand pat at the trade deadline. In turn, some players found Marte’s absence to be disrespectful to the other individuals on the roster who were on the trading block. The D-backs went 3-0 in those games, suggesting Marte’s absence didn’t make a huge difference. But, as Piecoro’s report indicates, the frustration with Marte’s availability is bigger than that incident, with some players griping about his tendency to ask manager Torey Lovullo for days off.
For whatever it’s worth, Marte has averaged 141 games played over the last three seasons. He’ll fall short of that mark this year, but it ought to be noted that he’s started all but one game since returning from the All-Star break.
Marte, 31, entered Friday having hit .296/.398/.557 (160 OPS+) with 23 home runs in 89 games. His contributions have been worth an estimated 3.9 Wins Above Replacement, according to the calculations housed at Baseball Reference. That means Marte has been the second most productive player on the D-backs roster, behind shortstop Geraldo Perdomo.
The D-backs, 60-62 on the season and 4 ½ games back of a playoff spot, will continue a four-game set against the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. Arizona has won three games in a row and six of its last seven contests overall.