Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks
Prior to 2018, Ketel Marte signed a five-year, $24 million extension with the Dbacks. He rewarded them by having his best season at that point, posting a 104 wRC+ and 2.5 fWAR through 580 plate appearances. He’s rewarded them again with a true breakout in 2019 — heading into Wednesday’s action, Marte owned a .950 OPS and 140 wRC+ through 534 plate appearances.
Only three qualified hitters have posted a higher fWAR than Marte’s 5.6, and their names are Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger, and Christian Yelich.
The biggest change in the young infielder’s game is his constant rise in power. He’s already hit a career-high 26 dingers this year, which is more than the last two seasons combined (19 homers in 835 plate appearances). Check out how his dingers, ISO, hard-hit rate, wRC+, and fWAR have all progressed since 2016:
Every hitting coach dreams of seeing this kind of progression from their young position players in the batter’s box.
With Marte currently in just his age-25 campaign, the future sure is looking bright. And for Arizona, the extension they agreed to is looking more and more like an incredible bargain.
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