Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte ranked 2nd in MVP race by ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle

Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte has been a constant force for his team this season.

In July, he made his second career All-Star game appearance as the lone player to represent the Diamondbacks.

While Marte has put up numbers that have helped the Diamondbacks find success this season, could it lead to him winning MVP?

ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle has Marte coming in at second in the National League MVP race in his latest 2024 MLB awards Watch list for August:

The oft-overlooked Marte is working very hard to make sure he’s overlooked no more. His 157 OPS+ is a career best, and his 11 defensive runs saved have him on pace to obliterate his previous high. Arizona has been one of baseball’s hottest teams, and Marte is a big reason for that — since the beginning of July, he has a 1.077 OPS with 11 homers and 29 RBIs in 27 games.

Doolittle based his rankings on AXE, which evaluates player metrics such as WAR, win probability added and championship probability added.

There is an index set at 100 being the average standard deviation.

1. Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (147.7)
2. Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks (142.3)
3. Francisco Lindor, New York Mets (135.0)
4. Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds (131.6)
5. Jurickson Profar, San Diego Padres (129.5)
6. Marcell Ozuna, Atlanta Braves (128.1)
7. Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants (127.9)
8. Alec Bohm, Philadelphia Phillies (126.1)
9. Freddie Freeman, Dodgers (125.5)
10. Mookie Betts, Dodgers (124.6)

Marte currently leads the Diamondbacks in home runs, hitting 29 of them so far, and is slashing .298/.368/.559 with an OPS of .926.

His career high for home runs in a season is 32, which he set back in 2019.

On top of that, he is contributing to a team that is playing some of the hottest baseball in the league right now.

Arizona has not lost a series since coming back from the All-Star break and has won 10 of its last 11 series.

Ohtani has made his case all season for why he should be the MVP. He is currently tied for second in the league with 34 home runs and is slashing .302/.390/.618.

However, Ohtani’s numbers have dipped since coming back from the All-Star break. In the first 18 games he’s played since the break, Ohtani has hit .229/.337/.529 to go with five home runs and 16 hits.

Meanwhile, Marte through the same span of 19 games is hitting .310/.386/.747 to go with 10 home runs and 22 hits.

The Diamondbacks have also inched closer to the Dodgers in the National League West standings. The Dodgers currently sit at first with a three-game lead over the Diamondbacks.

If Arizona is able to overtake Los Angeles for the top  spot in the division, it could help Marte’s cause. Either way, Doolittle believes Marte will be a player to keep an eye on moving forward.