Arizona Diamondbacks: How good is Ketel Marte in franchise history?
Ketel Marte has been a stalwart in the Arizona Diamondbacks' line-up for seven seasons, but how good is he in the franchise's history?
I recently saw a Tweet discussing Ketel Marte and how good he was in the Arizona Diamondbacks' history, and that got me thinking: just how good is in the franchise's history? Now, the D-Backs are one of the youngest teams in baseball (unless you count the Montreal Expos and Washington Nationals as two separate teams). They came into existence with the 1998 MLB Expansion alongside the Tampa Bay Rays. But even though they're a relatively new franchise, how good is Ketel Marte in their 26 seasons of existence?
Marte joined the organization via trade in the 2016-2017 off-season in a swap with the Seattle Mariners. Since then, Marte has been a staple in the line-up, both in the infield and outfield, for the Snakes. Throughout his D-Backs career, Marte is a .282/.352/.478 batter with a .353 wOBA, and 120 wRC+. Marte both rarely strikes out with a 15.3% K% and draws walks at a quality rate of 9.3%. Plus, he's hit for good power with a .193 isolated slugging.
Now that we've looked at the rate stats let's take a look at the counting stats. Marte surpassed 100 home runs in an Arizona uniform this year and has 104 since arriving to his second Major League team. In total, he's racked up 815 hits. Marte has driven in 370 RBIs and 428 total runs scored. Marte also nearly has 200 doubles at 184, as well as 36 triples and 35 stolen bases. In total, his contributions come to +18.4 fWAR.
So, how does Marte compare to D-Backs legends? Marte has the 8th most games played with 792. He'll crack the top five if he stays healthy and plays 150 or more next year. Marte also ranks 9th in home run total but is also well within reach of the top five. Luis Gonzalez has the most home runs in D-Backs history at 224, but Marte only needs 17 more dingers to crack the top five. Marte also ranks top ten in RBI (8th), doubles (5th), and runs scored (7th). However, regarding fWAR, he is the 4th most valuable Diamondbacks position player.
In terms of the rate stats, Marte's 120 wRC+ is the third best, only sitting behind Gonzalez and Paul Goldschmidt. Marte's .830 OPS is the 5th best in team history, while his wOBA ranks 8th all-time. Marte also has the 5th highest slugging percentage and is less than ten points behind Mark Reynolds. The switch-hitter is also 8th in batting average and 10th in OBP.
As of right now, Marte is at least a top-ten position player in the Diamondbacks' franchise history, and he just turned 30 in October. Marte still has three years of team control remaining, as well as a fourth-year team option. Marte is very much within reach of being in the top five or better in multiple counting stats. As long as his production doesn't suddenly fall off a cliff, he'll likely remain in the top ten or better in most rate stats. Heck, a couple more years, like 2023, and he'll improve upon most of said rate stats.