SnakePit Round Table: The second-to-last one

We lost Ketel Marte. What are your thoughts on his year?

ISH95: Simply put, incredible. To step up and fill the void left by Goldschmidt on the offensive side, and then step up and fill the void in the outfield left by Pollock is nearly unbelievable. #KMVP

Makakilo: Seemingly a long time ago, Ketel Marte’s upside was noticed; Comments from AZ SnakePit thread follow.

Last season, Ketel Marte’s breakout was noticed on AZ SnakePit:

• Sean Testerman wrote this.
• And Jack Sommers added this.

This season, a lot has been written about Ketel Marte.

• Since March, I read 10 articles about Ketel Marte by Zach Buchanan, although I may have missed a few.
• In addition, Nick Piecoro, Fabian Ardaya, Daniel Epstein, and Jim McLennan have written awesome articles about him. Link to Jim’s article is here.

What words could I possibly add? As a fan, I’m glad Marte is a D-back!

Turambar: Marte has firmly cemented himself as the new hero of this team. Period. The end.

If you told me back in March that Marte would lead the league in hits, seamlessly transition to centerfield and end the year with a 6.8 WAR I wouldn’t necessarily call you crazy, but I’d sure as hell say you were way too optimistic.

Here we are in Sept and Marte isn’t just good, he’s now a legit MVP candidate. Hell. Yea.

AzDbackfanInDc: Marte was no doubt our MVP this year. Without him, we wouldn’t have been as “good” as we were. Katel was hit with several injuries this year including a groin issue two months ago as well as lower back tightness and hamstring discomfort as recent as last month. His stat lines for the year are .329/.389/.592 - and he also had 92 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. His 6.9 wins above replacement, per Baseball-Reference, ranks third among National League position players. Were these injuries due to the new turf or even related to that? I’m not sure. I don’t see him winning the MVP since he plays for the Diamondbacks but he put up one hell of an effort to receive that award

Luke Weaver made his return to the mound last night. Where does he slot into the 2020 rotation?

ISH95: Depends on who is still there come March. If Ray is still here, probably fourth. If Ray departs for more Pinstriped pastures, he moves up to third.

Makakilo: I slot him as fifth, or sixth, for two reasons:

• This season, Weaver missed nearly 4 months due to injury. I question the wisdom of giving him a starter workload for a full season. Better might be to option him back and forth from the minors.
• “I think the big word is consistency. As a starting pitcher, that’s all you really want. You want to go out there and be dominant but that’s not realistic every time. If we can go out there and try to go six plus and give up a couple of runs or less, there’s going to be a high percentage of wins if we feel like we do our part.” -- Luke Weaver

Turambar: Really too soon to tell at this point, though I’d say he’s probably gonna be our #3 starter.

AzDbackfanInDc: It was good to see Weaver back in the rotation. Luke had last appeared on the 26th of May and was shut down due to mild sprains to his flexor pronator and UCL in his throwing arm. He was brought back with a limited pitch count Saturday and did rather well. He pitched a perfect two innings and struck out one on only 19 pitches, 13 of which were strikes. I think he’s a solid #3 starter for us. Prior to coming back vs the Padres, Weaver was s 4-3 with a 3.03 ERA with 21 ER in 62.1 innings pitched. He also allowed three or fewer runs or less per game in his last ten starts. We could say he has even gotten better after the first three games. as his slash line in the last eight he’s posted a 2.31 ERA. And as stated above, only allowed 12 runs to go along with 53 strikeouts.

They’re using robot umps in the Arizona Fall League. When do you think they will be in the majors, if ever?

ISH95: I don’t think MLB will do something that drastic unilaterally. If they do, I might actually get the chance to be a replacement player. My guess is they will work something out in the next CBA, and it will take 2-3 years to implement after that.

Makakilo: I’m not so sure if it ever will happen in the Majors. Would it change baseball from a noble battle of athletic teams on a field commanded by umpires, into an entirely different game ruled by technical measurements?

Turambar: I doubt the robo umps will ever truly take over. The Ump Union will fight tooth and nail to ensure that never truly happens. Honestly umps have a place in the game and though they drive us crazy at times I’d hate to see them replaced by some SkyNet bot.

AzDbackfanInDc: Man, I don’t know about this. Sure there have been a lot of crappy calls at the plate for and against us. I would like to see those calls a little more accurate but at the same time, I don’t want to see robo-umps. For me, that takes away the human element of the game. What will there be next? Robo players and robo coaches?

A’s, Rays, Indians and Nationals, Brewers, Cubs. Who do you want to see get the wild-card spots?

ISH95: A’s and Rays. Nationals and the… god, is neither an option?

Update: if we are talking about who we want to win the WC game, Rays and Nationals

Makakilo: Rays for two reasons:

Similar to D-backs underperforming their Bill-James-Pythagorean-win-projection, if they don’t make the playoffs, the Rays would be one of the best performing teams to fail (538.com article).

• Highest WAR per game (.303) of any non-playoff team since 2012.
• For any one season since 1995, one of only 8 teams ranked in top 11 (MAJORs) of every subcategory of WAR (hitting, running, defense, starters, bullpen).

Turambar: A’s and Nats. Honestly though I just want the best team to beat the Yankees or Dodgers, especially Dodgers.

AzDbackfanInDc: Well, for me, I’d like to see anyone except the Juice Crew. I have nothing against the A’s, Rays (who I always root for in that division), Cubbies - I still don’t get all the hate by Arizona for that team, or the Nats (of course my home team). I will be rooting strongly against the trash from LA, and also the NYY unless those two teams are in the WS. If that happens to be the case, I will throw up in my mouth and root for the Yankees as hard as that will be. I’d love to see a Braves vs Houston WS and I wouldn’t really care who won. As long as that team from LA gets eliminated, I will be happy.

This week, Paul Goldschmidt returns to Chase Field. How will he be received?

ISH95: Standing ovation at his first at bat, and then probably another one when he inevitably hits a home run. Just like when Pujols returned to STL.

Makakilo: ISH is on-target.

Turambar: First the crowd will succumb to visions. Visions of a warrior clad in gold armor bearing a banner of Sedona red. The great multitude at the stadium shall then weep in unison as Goldy takes the field. Goldy shall then utter an unword in the tongue of the ancients and the crowd shall shower well deserved praise upon him. Thus shall he be received.

AzDbackfanInDc: Great question. I think he will be received with a standing ovation followed by a complete game wave. We can get the Brute Squad and all the folks going to Snakepitfest to get the wave started when they announce Paul’s name and continue that throughout the entire game. Man, that would be kool as hell wouldn’t it? I’m thinking most of you reading this are saying “No, it wouldn’t be, you idiot. The wave is stupid!” In all seriousness, I think he gets a minute long standing ovation and the fans there will probably cheer when he gets his first hit. After that, I see the entire hoopla ending and the fans rooting for the Dbacks to win the game. We all love Goldy but this game we are D-backs fans first and foremost and we should be cheering on our home team to win.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Jim: A man walks into a Scottish butchers and asks, “Do ye deliver?” And the butcher replies, “Aye, we de all kinds of meat.” [Say it in a Scottish accent. Trust me...]

ISH95: A boat sinks and strands four passengers on an island only inhabited by cannibals. They’re rounded up, and the Chieftain addresses them. “If you can go out into the island and find ten fruit, bring them back, and then insert them into your anus without making a sound, we will set you free. However! If you make any sound, we will cook you and eat you for dinner.”

So the castaways went out and found their ten fruit. The first one came back with apples. He was able to get three in before he broke down in tears. The tribe grabbed him, and cooked him for dinner.

The second one came back with tangerines. It went better for him, and he was able to get five in before he yelped. It wasn’t enough though, and the tribe cooked him and ate him for dinner.

The third castaway was smart. He came back with grapes! “Hmmmm, this one might actually survive,” thought the Chieftain. He was able to get NINE grapes in… and then burst out laughing! The tribe went to cook him and dine, but the Chieftain stopped them. “You made a sound, so we must cook you for dinner, but before we do, I have to ask, you were so close! What could have possibly been so funny, as to cost you your life?”

The castaway, paused, swallowed and said, “I saw the next guy coming with pineapples.”

Makakilo: My offering is a little wisdom mixed with a little humor:

Did you hear about the beautiful Hawaiian geologist who died? She fell head over heels in lava.

“Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.” -- Yogi Berra

“Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot.” -- Groucho Marx

ISH95: We don’t deserve you Mak. I’m cracking jokes about cannibalism and shoving things up butts, and you’re giving us life advice lol.

AzDbackfanInDc: To be honest, I am not a joke telling person. I don’t like to hear jokes from other people. I know I joke around on here and mostly everywhere and I like practical jokes on people, but to sit down and actually tell a joke... I don’t think I’ve done that since I was a kid in grade school. I also don’t really hang out with people who tell jokes because they bore the crap out of me. You’d think with the way I act, I’d like this sort of thing but for some reason I don’t. I honestly rarely laugh or smile. I’m just a 50 year old with no sense of humor I guess. If I wanted to see or listen to a joke, I’d just have to watch a Green Bay Packers game...

I’d like to thank Jim for letting me participate in this. Jim has been very fair to me over the years and I really appreciate him putting up with me and trying to guide me to be a better person on here, and in life in general. Thanks Boss! I respect you more than you know. Thanks for reading and GO DBACKS!!!