Ketel Ricardo Marte Valdez (born October 12, 1993) is a Dominican professional baseball second baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Seattle Mariners. Marte made his MLB debut with the Mariners in 2015, and was traded to the Diamondbacks during the 2016–17 offseason. Marte was an All Star in 2019.

Career

Ketel_Marte%2C_2015_Triple-A_All-Star_Game

Seattle Mariners

Marte signed with the Seattle Mariners as an international free agent on August 13, 2010. He made his professional debut in 2011 for the Dominican Summer League Mariners. He played 2012 with the Everett AquaSox of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League and Clinton LumberKings of the Class A Midwest League. Marte spent 2013 with Clinton and the High Desert Mavericks of the Class A-Advanced

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

. He batted .295 with a .687 on-base plus slugging (OPS). Marte started 2014 with the Jackson Generals of the Class AA Southern League and was promoted to the Tacoma Rainiers of the Class AAA

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

(PCL). He finished the season hitting .304 with a .746 OPS and four home runs. On November 20, 2014 Ketel was placed on the 40–man roster. The Mariners promoted Marte to the major leagues on July 31, 2015. His performance led the Mariners to be comfortable with trading fellow shortstop Brad Miller. However, Marte struggled in 2016, batting .259 with a .287 on-base percentage and striking out 84 times in 119 games. He also went on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

three times. The Mariners attempted to trade for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

' Zack Cozart during the season.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On November 23, 2016, the Mariners traded Marte and

Taijuan Walker Taijuan Emmanuel Walker (born August 13, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue ...

to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jean Segura,

Mitch Haniger Mitchell Evan Haniger (born December 23, 1990) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners. A coll ...

, and Zac Curtis. Marte began the 2017 season with the Reno Aces of the PCL. The Diamondbacks promoted him to the major leagues on June 28. In his first playoff game in October 4 that same year, he hit two triples in an 11–8 Wild Card win over the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

, becoming only the 8th player to record two triples in the same playoff game and the first to do so in an ambidextrous manner. Marte was moved from shortstop to 2nd base by the Diamondbacks at the beginning of the 2018 season to make room for shortstop Nick Ahmed in the Arizona starting infield. In 2018, Marte led all of MLB in triples with 12. Batting .316 with 20 home runs and 51 RBIs, Marte was named the starting second baseman for the

2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Musi ...

. The following season, Marte hit .287 with 2 home runs and 17 RBI. On April 8, 2021, Marte was placed on the 10-day

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

with a right

hamstring strain Straining of the hamstring, also known as a pulled hamstring, is defined as an excessive stretch or tear of muscle fibers and related tissues. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes participating in many sports. Track and field athletes are p ...

. He returned on May 19. On March 29, 2022, Marte signed a five-year, $76 million contract extension with the Diamondbacks.

Personal life

Marte is the nephew of Wilson Valdez, and is married to the cousin of

Vladimir Guerrero Jr Vladimir Guerrero Ramos Jr. (born March 16, 1999) is a Canadian-Dominican professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the son of former MLB player and Hall of Famer Vl ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marte, Ketel 1993 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Mariners players Clinton LumberKings players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer League Mariners players Everett AquaSox players Gigantes del Cibao players High Desert Mavericks players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball infielders National League All-Stars People from Nizao Reno Aces players Seattle Mariners players Tacoma Rainiers players