D-backs Shake Up Lineup Following Offensive Explosion

Diamondbacks make changes to batting order

The D-backs are coming off an 16-hit, 11-run explosion on Wednesday night in an 11-7 victory. The top three in the order combined for eight of those hits, including three triples and a double. That makes the timing a bit curious.

Earlier in the year, manager Torey Lovullo said that he had Perdomo in the third spot in the order to provide a type of unconventional protection for Marte and Carroll. The concept was that Perdomo's ability to see a lot of pitches would allow Marte and Carroll to "hunt" pitches they could do damage on.

The net result of that construction, however, was for Marte and Carroll to chase too much.

While it's improved lately, Marte has a 32.3% chase rate on pitches out of the zone. That's in the 35th percentile group, or lower third of the league. Last year his chase rate was just 24.7% and in the 72nd percentile, i.e. much better than most.

Carroll's chase rate is even higher, at 34.8%, 23rd percentile. This is similar to 2025, when his chase rate was 31.6% and 26th percentile.

Chase rate is essentially the only flaw in Carroll's game at this point. He is off to a great start to his season, batting .312/.413/.610, and is fourth in MLB with a 1.023 OPS.

Marte has gotten off to a slow start in terms of results, batting just .228/.290/.391, .681 OPS. But he has been one of the unluckiest hitters in MLB. He has constantly hit the ball over 100 MPH, often over 110, only to have the ball find a glove. His expect batting average is .309, 81 points higher than his actual BA. That is the sixth-largest gap in MLB year to date.

Perdomo, meanwhile, has been on fire over his last six games. He has collected three hits in three of those games, and is 12-for-23, .522 along with three walks. He's raised his batting average from .148 to .260 in that span, and OPS from .586 to .781.

The Diamondbacks' offense has climbed up to 12th in MLB with 4.79 runs per game, and the team OPS is .729. They've received a huge boost from Ildemaro Vargas, who is in the middle of a 20-game hitting streak, 17 to start the year. He has done a tremendous job in filling the gap at first base and in the lineup.

Speaking before Thursday's game (via Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports), Lovullo said the reasoning behind the change was get back to a more traditional setup, whereby Perdomo can make the starter throw a few extra pitches and get on base to set the table for sluggers like Marte and Carroll.

Now that Marte and Perdomo are heating up, it's still up to the top three in the order to lead the offense. Sustained success for the Diamondbacks in scoring runs depends on those three more than any other players.