After a quiet start to the 2024 season, the Arizona Diamondbacks are making some serious noise.
With a 17-5 record since the All-Star break, the D-backs have crept to within 3.5 games of the lead in the National League West, behind the perennial frontrunners, the Los Angeles Dodgers. They've done so by hitting the cover off the baseball as a unit.
Though the lineup boasts other star contributors such as Corbin Carroll and Joc Pederson, the Diamondbacks have been carried all season by their second baseman, Ketel Marte.
Marte has been the catalyst for Arizona all season, showcasing a rare blend of power and on-base skills. And lately, Marte has performed so well that he could be in the discussion to do something previously thought unthinkable.
Shohei Ohtani has been the presumed favorite for NL MVP for most of the season, but perhaps Marte could be set to challenge him for the crown. ESPN's David Schoenfield discussed the possibility in an article on Monday.
"Marte isn't going to go 40/40 like Ohtani has a chance to do -- but Ohtani doesn't play a key position in the field like Marte (who has had an excellent defensive season at second base) and a full-time DH has never won the MVP award," Schoenfield said.
In his age-30 season, Marte has taken his game to new heights. He made his second career All-Star team, owns a career-high .932 OPS, and is on pace to shatter his previous high of 32 home runs, with 30 already in mid-August.
Marte made a name for himself in the postseason in 2023, setting a new record to begin a career with a 20-game playoff hitting streak. That streak was broken in Game 5 of the World Series, in which the Texas Rangers defeated Arizona to clinch the 2023 Fall Classic.
Schoenfield also noted that Marte has usurped Ohtani in bWAR, 6.1 to 5.8. That metric, combined with whether the Diamondbacks can overtake Ohtani and the Dodgers in the standings, could play an outsized role in whether Marte can pull off the upset.
Regardless of whether or not he wins the award, it has undoubtedly been a meteoric rise for Marte. And if he resumes his usual dominance in the postseason, the D-backs could be in line to finish the job they started in 2023, returning to and winning the World Series.
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