Diamondbacks Activate Ketel Marte from Injured List

The Arizona Diamondbacks have made a much-anticipated roster move on Friday, activating superstar infielder Ketel Marte from the injured list. Marte himself said to Arizona Diamondbacks On SI he would return for the Phillies series in the clubhouse on April 27 as the team was packing for the road trip.

The corresponding move was to option outfielder Jorge Barrosa back to Triple-A Reno. Barrosa was called up to replace a slumping Jake McCarthy, but went just 3-for-15 in five games, failing to provide much of a spark at the bottom of the order.

Marte had been out since pulling up at second base after hitting a double in the first inning on April 4 in Washington against the Nationals. Diagnosed with a grade one hamstring strain, Marte has missed 23 games.

Through his first eight game Marte was hitting .346 with three doubles. While he had yet to homer, he'd drawn six walks and had a .469 On Base Percentage. A power surge seemed on the verge of taking place at the time he went down, with numerous hard hit balls.

In 2024 Marte finished third in the National League MVP balloting, batting .292 with 36 homers, a .932 OPS, and +10 defensive runs saved at second base.

When Marte was placed on the injured list on April 5, the D-backs had a record of 5-3 and were averaging 6.4 runs per game on .271 hitting with an .835 OPS. In Marte's absence, the team is 12-11 and averaged 4.8 runs per game on .235 hitting and a .745 OPS.

The Diamondbacks have especially struggled against left-hand pitching this year, batting .232 with a .646 OPS. Marte has been a lefty killer throughout his career, and the timing couldn't be better as the Phillies will throw two tough left-hand pitchers against the D-backs in this series. Expect Marte to be in at second base Friday night, as per Torey Lovullo speaking on Sirius XM radio.

That's not to say that Arizona didn't receive some good performance in Marte's absence. Tim Tawa was called up on April 5, and has played in 17 games. He has a .309 OBP and .491 slugging percentage for an .800 OPS. He's slugged five homers and has a 118 wRC+, or roughly 18% better than league average.

While Tawa's batting average is only .193, that is due mostly to bad luck on batted balls in play. He has a .154 BABIP versus a league average .288. Numerous smoked line drives have ended up in fielders' gloves, and he also had one homer taken away on a great defensive play.

Nowhere is the gap between results and what Tawa's deserved more evident than in his .260 xBA, or expected batting average from Baseball Savant.

In addition, Tawa has overcome some initial defensive mistake to record positive numbers in his defensive metrics. He's made numerous athletic plays, displaying his range and abilities to turn the double play. For these reasons, expect Tawa to fill in regularly for Marte when Marte needs a day off or is the DH in the lineup.

Garrett Hampson also played some second base in Marte's absence, going 3-for-15 (all singles) in seven games played at the position. Most of those at-bats came immediately after the Marte injury however, as Tawa quickly wrestled away the playing time.

For the full year Hampson is batting .185 on 5-for-27 hitting. The speedy utility man has drawn seven walks and has a .359 OBP, but has little power and is still looking for his first extra base hit. Hampson's place on the roster is due to his ability to play shortstop, thus backing up Geraldo Perdomo, who plays almost every day.

Both Hampson and Tawa can play outfield, and along with Randal Grichuk, provide plenty of depth behind Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Hampson is the most likely among the bench players to get reps in center field when Thomas needs a day off or faces a tough lefty.

While fans clamor for Jordan Lawlar to be called up from Triple-A Reno, the reality is there is just not much playing time available, and the team is insistent he needs to play every day to continue to get reps and experience.

With Eugenio Suárez tied for the major league lead in homers with 10, and coming off his second player of the week award in the season's first four weeks, the team is not likely to bench him any time soon, despite a .193 batting average. Perdomo is putting up all-star numbers, and now with the return of Marte, there just isn't any real playing time to be had.

That said, it shouldn't be too long before Lawlar is in the major leagues. He's currently batting .381/.470/.690, 1.160 OPS. He has six homers and 30 RBI in 28 games. Thus far he's played 124 innings at third base, and 54 innings at both second base and shortstop. Both of his errors so far have come while playing second base.

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