Baseball’s top 30-year-old, Ketel Marte

Before heading to the IL, Diamondbacks’ All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte was locked in a tight race with the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani for the National League MVP. Marte ranked second in WAR and was only getting better as the season progressed, posting a .357 batting average in August after hitting .341 in July.

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In a recent ranking by Will Leitch at MLB.com, where he selected the best player at every age, Ketel Marte was named the best 30-year-old in baseball. Leitch wrote, “This age is stacked, from our runner-up to Corey Seager (last year’s winner) to Alex Bregman to even Shota Imanaga. But we are tired of everyone underappreciating Marte, so we are not going to do so ourselves.”

Francisco Lindor, who finished as the runner-up in the 30-year-old ranking, is also trailing Marte in the MVP race, which appears to be slipping away as Ohtani has taken over in August.

The Diamondbacks’ other representative on the list was Zac Gallen, who finished as the runner-up in the 28-year-old category. Gallen, who hasn’t quite lived up to expectations this season with a 3.87 ERA—his worst since 2021—was edged out by Padres’ starting pitcher Dylan Cease.

When comparing the two pitchers throughout their careers, Gallen holds the advantage in WAR, with 18.6. He also has a better win percentage, lower ERA, and more All-Star appearances. Cease, meanwhile, leads only in innings pitched and strikeouts.

Surprisingly, Corbin Carroll did not make the list. Although the 24-year-old category was easily won by Bobby Witt Jr., the runner-up spot seems debatable. Instead of Carroll, Will Leitch named Mark Vientos of the New York Mets. When comparing the two players side by side, Carroll leads in every statistical category possible. While Carroll has played twice as many games as Vientos, he holds the advantage in batting average, slugging, and on-base percentage