Can Marte Catch Goldschmidt as Best D-backs Position Player?

As can be seen above, Gonzalez played in the highest scoring period compared to the other two, while Goldschmidt played in the lowest. At the same time, Chase Field park factors favored hitters somewhat more during Gonzalez's era.

100 = league average, and the park factor has only been slightly above league average in Marte's era. a big reason for that was the installation of the humidor in 2018, and then the artificial turf in 2019.

Baseball Reference includes an adjusted league average ops on their advanced player pages. That is the OPS a league average player (non-pitcher) would have playing in the same ballparks.

Once you look at that number and compare to the player's OPS and the OPS+ numbers, you can see that Marte's OPS carries almost the same value as Gonzalez (128 vs 130 OPS+) despite there being a 68-point difference in raw unadjusted OPS.

At the same time, Goldschmidt's OPS+ of 145 swamps Gonzalez despite his raw unadjusted OPS being just 11 points higher. This is the power then of context-adjusted metrics.

Of course, value is not just about OPS+. And it's when you take into account everything else that Marte emerges as equal to Gonzalez, and closing in on Goldschmidt.

Can Marte Catch Goldschmidt as Best D-backs Position Player?

Looking at total contributions on offense and defense, and adjusting for positional value and different run scoring environments brings us to a place where Marte has drawn close. aWAR is the average of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs WAR.

By this measure, we can see that Marte has already caught Gonzalez, and could catch Goldschmidt with a six-WAR season in 2026.

Marte has played 140 fewer games than Gonzalez and has 867 fewer PA. On a rate basis, he's actually been more valuable. Gonzalez has a higher replacement runs value as a result of the additional playing, however.

Explaining the Offense and Defense Calculations

In WAR, offense and defense runs above averageare derived from linear weights run values. The value of each batting event, as well as baserunning, are included in the offense.

Where the defense total run value really forks is the positional adjustment. Marte has played all of his innings at up the middle positions, second base, center fielder, and shortstop. That accounts for +17 of the 50.5 runs in his defense total above.

Conversely, the positional penalty for first base and left field is considerable. For Goldschmidt, his positional adjustment is -70 runs, leaving him at -43 overall despite being +27 runs better than the average first baseman.

Similarly, Gonzalez's positional runs are -50, and his fielding runs are +23, leaving him with a -27 run total overall.

Franchise Icons

There is no denying the different status of these players when it comes to fan perception. Luis Gonzalez is literally a Diamondbacks legend. He had the game-winning hit in the World Series and a massive 57-homer season that year. Flags fly forever.

Goldschmidt was the MVP runner-up twice with the D-backs, and arguably should have won at least one of those in 2013. His reputation and character are spotless, and his departure via trade following 2018 is lamented by Diamondbacks fans almost universally.

But let's not forget how clutch Marte has been. His MLB-record 20-game hit streak, .344 batting average and .974 OPS in the Postseason are also legendary.

If Marte finishes his contract with the Diamondbacks he will certainly stand atop the franchise WAR leaderboard, and by a comfortable margin. He might even get there before the end of 2026.

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