Ketel One

 

There are currently two more Arizona Diamondbacks on the ASG final vote roster than I thought there would be in April.

Looking at this team, even as they did well, I saw some good things from Corbin Carroll, but not 'potentially starting at the ASG' good. And I figured we'd see a different side of Lourdes Gurriel in Phoenix, but I didn't think both the D-Backs fans AND the Blue Jays fans would rally behind him during the voting period. Even if it's unlikely they're both gonna start the game, and that it's probably going to be Carroll if anybody [at least that's who I voted for], the fact that these Diamondbacks have two people that the masses decided were in the conversation of the best in baseball is pretty cool.

But hey, we're living in a world with 1st place Diamondbacks, carrying three of the best players in baseball. So maybe it's not that strange.

Those three, for the record, are Carroll, Ketel Marte, who currently has a 3.3 WAR, and Zac Gallen who remains one of the best pitchers in the game. And even then, there's still people like Geraldo Perdomo, Merrill Kelly, Christian Walker and Lourdes Gurriel who are having excellent seasons and are still just very good players. There is depth on this team that you wouldn't have expected. Josh Rojas, the supposed third baseman, isn't cutting it so with his demotion, there's room for Emmanuel Rivera to start and Evan Longoria to take some reps at third while also occasionally DHing. Gurriel and Carroll have two OF spots down, and all of Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy and Pavin Smith have been trading off for the other one. Drey Jameson is peeping in as a sixth option for a rotation that's settled but not ironclad yet. Carson Kelly's back but is trading off politely behind the plate with Gabriel Moreno. All this depth is fantastic, and proves how many legs this team has now.

That Ketel Marte is still here to see it is also pretty awesome. Marte had his incredible 2019 year that got HIM a starting 2B spot on the NL all-star team, and while he's been good since then, I did worry that he'd peak then and end up supplementing another team's playoff run at some point. But no, Marte's hung in there, and he's having another awesome season, hitting .294 with 42 RBIs and 14 home runs, as well as leading all non-Carroll D-Backs in OPS with .890. He might even sneak onto the ASG squad in some capacity, that is unless Rob Thomson just goes with the 2nd place finishers like Snitker did last year. I'm glad he's playing well, and I hope he keeps it up.

What's satisfying about the Diamondbacks is that they're much more than simply Carrollmania, and they have so many excellent pieces that are keeping them in the conversation. It's an outcome I'm glad is happening now, even if I swore they were still a few more years away. With the Dodgers and Giants approaching, it'll be interesting to see if they can hold onto this lead through July.

Coming Tomorrow- I love how the Rays will just give people a try as if they're not gonna completely revitalize their careers with them. Oh, let's see if this infield guy we got from Detroit works out, ya never know, right?