"Not a whole lot going on in the base paths for him" - D-Backs insider doubts Ketel Marte’s NL MVP chances against Shohei Ohtani
Arizona Diamondbacks insiders Derek Montilla and Jesse Friedman talked about Ketel Marte's chances for the National League MVP award. The Dominican is up against the Los Angeles Dodgers star, Shohei Ohtani, for the big award.
As it stands, the Japanese international currently has a slight edge over Marte in the race for the title. If it continues this way, two-time MVP Ohtani may need to make more room on the trophy cabinet come the end-of-season awards.
In the latest episode of the PHNX Sports podcast, Friedman said:
[17:08] "The Ketel Marte for MVP discourse is certainly heating up. Ohtani still has a 1,018 OPS compared to Ketel's 919, so I'm still going to kind of tap the breaks on that. I don't think Ketel's realistically the MVP frontrunner at this point."
"If that OPS gap were to narrow to around 50 points between the two, then I think you could make the case because Ketel's also playing defence, and Ohtani isn't. ... Ohtani's on pace for 48 homers and 45 stolen bases, which is a pretty remarkable season. Ketel's on pace for 39 homers but just nine stolen bases, not a whole lot going on in the base paths for him."
Asked whether the Diamondbacks winning the NL West could tip the scales in Marte's favor, Friedman responded:
[18:25] "It probably should. I think again, it would just depend on how big the gap is [between Ohtani and Marte's stats]. If Ohtani is leading Ketel in all the categories, realistically, the writers are just going to look at the numbers and vote for Ohtani."
Ketel Marte hits homer as D-Backs win opener in Cleveland
The Arizona Diamondbacks came out on top in the series opener against the Cleveland Guardians, winning 7-6 on Monday. Both teams scored two runs a piece in the first before the lead switched hands twice, eventually needing extra innings to decide the outcome.
After playing a key role in the series win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Ketel Marte brought his excellent form to Progressive Field. The Dominican hit one out of the park for the first pitch of the game, also going on to record an RBI. This season, Ketel is batting at a .300 average with 28 home runs and 78 RBIs.
The Arizona faithful will be hoping that the D-Backs and Ketel can keep this level of play till the end of the campaign, with their place in the playoffs still not confirmed. The Diamondbacks have won their last six series coming into this one in Cleveland. They will take on the Guardians on Tuesday with the chance to confirm a 7th on the bounce.