Diamondbacks Manager Addresses Ketel Marte's Slump

At the conclusion of Monday night's broadcast following the Diamondbacks 8-1 victory over the Giants, analyst and former World Series-winning manager Bob Brenly raised some concerns over the quality of Ketel Marte's at-bats in the game.

Diamondbacks Announcer Bob Brenly's Comment

"A lot of good things happened in the ballgame," Brenly said. But he pressed on, saying, "I hate to be the bringer of bad news here, but you'd like to see Ketel Marte start to contribute a little bit more. He had five plate appearances in this game and saw a total of seven pitches. Geraldo Perdomo had two at-bats where he saw seven pitches."

Marte has been in a steep slump for his last 25 games, dating back to August 17. Since that date, in 25 games, 110 PA, he's batting an even .200 with three doubles, two homers, and a .586 OPS.

The slump has accelerated over his last 10 games in which he's hit just .125 with one extra-base hit in 40 at bats, culminating in Monday's effort that was called out by Brenly.

In the middle of that latest stretch, Marte took a hard foul ball off his foot on September 10. That caused him to miss a game with a right foot contusion.

But after getting a battery of x-rays, CT Scans, and an MRI, it was determined there was no serious injury. Marte returned to play on September 13, but has not appeared to be himself since then.

Related Content: Diamondbacks Get Good News on Ketel Marte Injury

Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo Answers Questions About Marte

Torey Lovullo was asked if he felt the foot injury was having any impact to Marte's base.

"I think so. I think he can't get out to that front side when he's sitting left-handed. But he's assured me and the rest of the people around him that he feels fine. He wants to play. And I don't want to get in the way of that. We need him out on the field."

Beyond the sore foot's potential impact, Lovullo broke down the issues he's seeing with Marte's approach.

"A little bit of hustle of the swing, maybe trying to do too much and a little bit of chase," Lovullo said. The manager feels like Marte needs to slow the game down and not try to do too much. He's got to swing at strikes and take a little bit of that hustle out of his swing.

"He's got a championship mentality," Lovullo said. "He wants to be the guy in the middle of everything. And sometimes this game's hard and you just don't have the feel for your swing. And I think that's where he's at right now."

Marte still has been enormously productive and important to the Diamondbacks this year. He's batting .277 with 25 homers, 65 RBI, and a .877 OPS. He was selected to the All-Star game as a starter for the second time in his career and third time overall.

Torey Lovullo Gives Health Updates

Tyler Locklear (elbow and shoulder) is still waiting to get a second opinion. Placed on the IL following a collision at first base, Locklear is waiting to get a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister, an orthopedic surgeon in Dallas, Texas.

Meister is traveling outside the country, and wants to examine Locklear in person.

Andrew Hoffmann (elbow) has begun a throwing program. Lovullo said, "I think he's progressing in a way that he could be available to us. He's here at Salt River and still working his way back to getting on a mound and getting as healthy as possible."

Cristian Mena (shoulder) is still throwing on flat ground out to 120 feet and has not thrown off a bullpen mound yet. While not official, it does not appear he will have enough time to ramp up and rejoin the team as a member of the bullpen.

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