PHOENIX — For the first time since July 29, Arizona Diamondbacks stalwarts Ketel Marte and Christian Walker will anchor the right side of the infield together against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.
Both players jumped back into the lineup during Arizona’s last road trip, but Marte has not played more than an inning of defense since his initial ankle injury on April 10. He eased in as the designated hitter at first.
Walker and Marte have both been on a return-to-play progressions after neither player went through a rehab assignment. Neither started on Sunday Night Baseball in Houston.
With two off days this week, Walker said he expects to be full-go.
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“I feel good about both of them,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “Walker clearly has been more of a playing-the-field mode and getting the normal at-bats back-to-back days. I’ve kind of checked off of him, and I’m feeling like he’s on his way. We’re still going to manage his time down.
“Marte, today is the first day of the unknown. He’s going to get back out there, he’s going to play the field, but he feels comfortable and he’s going to go out there and give us his best effort to complete the game and play at the pace he normally plays. … There’s just a few things he needs to work through, and I think that’ll come with the reps that he’s going to hopefully get today.”
The duo has accounted for 8.2 bWAR, 53 home runs and 154 RBIs this season, not to mention both are in the mix for Gold Gloves.
Fill-ins such as Josh Bell, Pavin Smith, Kevin Newman and Luis Guillorme have assisted in keeping the train rolling offensively and in the field. Smith, coming off a three-homer game, continues to fill the void in left field against righties, as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. recovers from a strained calf.
“Nothing but trust and faith in this group,” Walker said.
“That’s sort of the theme for this team this whole year, guys go down and people step up,” . “So being able to do my part in that is pretty cool. We haven’t had a few of our best players the last few weeks, and guys have stepped up.”
Getting Marte not only back in the lineup but on the field allows the D-backs to roll out the top four of Corbin Carroll, Marte, Joc Pederson and Walker with the DH spot for Pederson. Lovullo said he remains hopeful Gurriel and catcher Gabriel Moreno making progress on the IL will result in their returns sooner-than-later to restore the complete lineup for the final stretch.
Diamondbacks looking into creative rotation options
Arizona had Monday off, which leaves two off days remaining for the club before the end of the season.
Lovullo mentioned internal discussions of pushing Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, Arizona’s Tuesday and Wednesday starters, into more games by using the days off to keep their rest normal.
Arizona’s rotation has scuffled throughout the season (4.80 starters ERA) with so many injuries, but it has not experienced improved results since getting healthy last month (5.35 ERA since Aug. 11).
Gallen and Kelly, however, are coming off a combined 13 innings with two earned runs at the San Francisco Giants. Gallen threw six hitless innings, and Lovullo said he is due to get on a roll.
“We look we take deep dives into direct matchups against certain teams, how they handle righties, how they handle lefties. We’re going to try to line it up exactly the best way to help us win baseball games,” Lovullo said.
“It is probabilities, it is direct matchups, it’s all of the above that we’re gonna drop in and say, ‘This is where it fits best for this particular pitcher against this particular team.’ We want to make sure we have the right guys lined up at the very tail end of the season. There’s a lot going into these conversations, and it takes hours to get to that point. We haven’t quite got there yet.”
Torey Lovullo has seen Zac Gallen get his swagger back recently and thinks he is ready to contribute in a big way during the stretch run. pic.twitter.com/9s25CjFnE1
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) September 10, 2024
Gallen threw six hitless innings, and Lovullo said he is due to get on a roll. Two of his last three starts have gone for six innings and no earned runs, although he has not put quality starts together since the end of July.
He will get his first crack at the Rangers since Game 5 of the World Series at Chase Field last fall, even matching up with the same opposing starter, Nathan Eovaldi.
First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.
