Diamondbacks move Geraldo Perdomo back into lead-off spot

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks have tweaked their starting lineup, with Geraldo Perdomo back in the lead-off spot on Thursday, Ketel Marte moving into the two-slot and Corbin Carroll batting third against Chicago White Sox right-hander Davis Martin.

Manager Torey Lovullo made it clear on Opening Day that he wanted to try having Marte lead off on all days for a few weeks and see how it went. Marte had typically hit second against righties and led off against lefties.

The D-backs are moving back into their lineup construction from the end of last season, at least for the top three.

“I think (Marte) and Perdomo are fine, and it will continue to be fine,” Lovullo said. “I just felt like Corbin third with the slug, with two guys potentially getting on base. Give (Perdomo) a chance to dig into that starting pitcher a little bit with the pitch count, have to work hard to get him out would set it up for Ketel. That’s traditionally what we’ve done in the past.”

Lovullo said he will probably stick with this order for the time being, but he maintained that it can be revisited.

Carroll has been the most consistently great hitter of the three through the first four weeks of the season, as he is fifth among 181 qualified hitters in MLB with a 1.023 OPS despite dealing with wrist, hip and back issues.

Perdomo has turned his early-season struggles around over the past 10 games (.361/.452/.556). His on-base percentage is back up to .366, 37th in the league after it had been .277 through the first 12 games.

Marte continues to hit the ball hard, and the results are trickling in. His OPS is .849 over the past seven games, and underlying numbers suggest the stats will continue to improve given the quality of his contact. He has hit 15 baseballs at least 105 mph off the bat, tied for fifth in MLB, per Statcast.

“It’s definitely not easy to handle,” Marte said via Spanish interpreter of the hard-hit outs. “But he sticks with taking a good at-bat, making good decisions and hitting the ball as hard as he could. That’s as much as he controls.”

Perdomo, Marte and Carroll combined for eight hits in Thursday’s 11-7 win over Chicago.

Torey Lovullo on getting Lourdes Gurriel Jr. out of the lineup for a day and the move to return Geraldo Perdomo to the lead-off spot. pic.twitter.com/yBNh6sCzNc

— Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) April 23, 2026

Diamondbacks notes

• The Diamondbacks will stay in line with their starting rotation this weekend in Mexico City, with Zac Gallen pitching the Saturday opener and Ryne Nelson on Sunday.
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was out of the lineup on Thursday. Lovullo said this was for managing his workload with a weekend series in high altitude this weekend. Gurriel is 1-for-16 since coming off the injured list.
• Lovullo said first baseman Tyler Locklear is ahead of first baseman Carlos Santana in terms of their injury return progress. Lovullo said Locklear has been taking live at-bats. “Trending in a positive direction. I think we’ll re-image Locklear just to make sure everything is surgically repaired the right way and there are no steps backwards. I don’t know if that’s happened yet, or it will happen, which will usually intensify the next set of things that are taking place.” 
• On Santana, Lovullo said he has been taking swings: “I think there have been some coach-pitch, some cage work that’s been taking place.”

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