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For most of the season, the switch-hitting Ketel Marte has looked like two different hitters.
As a right-handed hitter, he has been a beast, hitting for power and average. He has looked mostly like a hitter with no weakness. From the left side, he has been productive, but modestly so. He has been a slasher, using the whole field but not always driving balls with authority.
In recent weeks, that has begun to change; Marte’s left-handed version has started to look more like his right-handed self. As it has, the Diamondbacks’ offense has grown increasingly dangerous.
Last week in Philadelphia, Marte blistered a ball 107.8 mph to straightaway center for a home run. It was his first homer from the left side of the plate since the first week of the season. On Monday night, he connected for another, shooting a low liner out to right field for a seventh-inning grand slam.
Entering Tuesday, Marte was 8 for 24 (.333) with a double, two homers and two walks from the left side over his past 10 games. He is again looking like the hitter he was in in April before a hamstring strain sent him to the injured list. And he is starting to look like the hitter who terrorized the National League for most of the 2019 season.
“I think right now he has some good momentum and is swinging at good pitches,” Diamondbacks co-hitting coach Drew Hedman said. “I do think he’s just doing a better job of using the middle part of the field, holding his direction really well. We’re seeing with a lot of good contact, fewer balls on the ground, more impact with more balls. It’s been impressive.”
Marte has a simple way of explaining the difference between the two sides. Right-handed, things come easy. His mind tends to be clear, his swing destructive. He can go days between at-bats from that side and it won’t seem to matter.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Marte said, “because when I go to the plate from the right side I never think.”
It isn’t always like that when a right-handed pitcher is on the mound.
“I think from the left side I think about my mechanics or being on time or any other kind of thought,” Marte said. “But from the right side I just go up there and swing.”
The numbers bear this out. From the right side, Marte is hitting an incredible .444/.487/.806 in 78 plate appearances. As a lefty, they’re a more down-to-earth .301/.358/.448 in 179 plate appearances.
Hedman believes the injuries help explain the difference in production. Since Marte is a natural right-handed hitter, that side of the plate requires little maintenance tuning. But as a left-handed hitter, Marte needs at-bats and repetitions, something he could not get while spending a combined 2½ months on the injured list with two separate hamstring strains.
“I think from the left side it just takes a little more work,” Hedman said. “Whether it’s out here for batting practice or it’s his swings in the cage before the game, there’s just some fine-tuning so he knows exactly where it’s at. I think once he gets it, from there it’s making sure he’s getting a good pitch to hit, staying aggressive through the middle part of the field and then driving pitches he can handle.”
Just like in 2019, Marte in recent games has begun to feel like a game-changing presence in the lineup. He certainly was on Monday night. Trailing 6-1, the Diamondbacks loaded the bases for Marte, who blasted the second pitch he saw from reliever Emilio Pagan for a grand slam.
“He’s a freaky good hitter,” teammate Josh Rojas said. “I came up that at-bat with second and third, two outs, and I know there was some fans yelling at me, ‘Just get Ketel to the plate.’ I was thinking the same exact thing.”
Weaver ready
Right-hander Luke Weaver will return from the injured list to start on Wednesday, a reversal for how manager Torey Lovullo had said the club planned to handle Weaver.
Last week, Weaver appeared to be on track to return on the previous road trip; instead, he got caught up in “close contact” COVID protocols, setting him back a week.
Lovullo said at the time the team would need Weaver to get back on a mound in a game-like situation before returning. Instead, he simply threw a bullpen on Monday and will be reinstated on Wednesday.
“We felt like there was enough of a buildup that he could throw a bullpen and be ready to go,” Lovullo said.
Weaver made three rehab starts in August, building up to 4? innings and 73 pitches in his most recent start on Aug. 20 for Triple-A Reno.
Short hop
Right-hander Merrill Kelly, who has been out since Aug. 15 due to a positive COVID test, has thrown two bullpen sessions since being cleared to return to action. Lovullo did not say what Kelly’s next step would be.
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Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.
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