There's no question about it. The Arizona Diamondbacks did not get the season they might have hoped for out of star second baseman Ketel Marte.

But was he really that bad?

In some ways, Marte was better than the numbers showed. On the whole, however, it was one of the worse seasons of his lengthy career. And then, of course, there was all the drama from his no-show at Fenway Park.

So let's break it down.

Was Ketel Marte's 2026 season that bad?

In 2026, Marte hit .249/.316/.432 with 2 homers for a .748 OPS. That would generally be considered a productive season for a major league player, but Marte has set a higher standard for himself.

He produced OPS figures of .893, .932 and .843 in his last three seasons, so 2026 was a big step down, close to the levels of his rough 2022 campaign.

Relatively speaking, it wasn't a good year. But the underlying metrics were not poor. His Baseball Savant page is full of red. Marte hit the ball hard. He was well above average in hard-hit rate (43%), average exit velocity (90.2 MPH) and barrel rate (9.4%). His bat speed ticked up to 74.8 MPH, slightly above 2024 and 2025.

His .280 expected batting average was over 30 points higher than his actual average, and ranked in the 90th percentile. By xwOBA (expected weighted on-base average), he placed in the 85th perceentile with a .349.

Marte rarely whiffed (19.7% whiff rate) and struck out at his lowest clip since 2020 (13.7%). He was worth 2.5 WAR by both Baseball Reference and FanGraphs, and played positive second base defense.

And despite an overall lack of situational proudction from the Diamondbacks, Marte had one of the higher RISP averages on the team. He hit .295 with runners in scoring position and .264 with men on. He also provided a pair of dramatic walk-off home runs.

At the same time, Marte's chase rate rose. He chased outside the strike zone just 24.8% of the time in 2025 — a 71st percentile number — but chased 31.5% of the time in 2026.

He swung early in counts and did not put up the same quality of at-bat he has in the past. He walked at his lowest clip since 2021 (8.2%).

And then, of course, there was the drama.

Ketel Marte's inexcused absence

The situation in late August needs little rehashing for those who paid attention, but Marte was unexpectedly absent from a game against the Red Sox on August 17, which led to a restricted list stint with a personal matter cited as the reasoning.

After days of confusion and drama, Marte sat down with his GM, manager and agent at Salt River Fields. It was determined Marte would go on the IL with a knee injury; he'd then apologize to his teammates and rejoin the club.

All of that came to pass. Though there was lingering frustration, especially given the fact it was not the first time Marte had behaved this way, the team and player seemed to move on.

In actuality, Marte played 141 games, the most since 2023. But shifting focus from his play to his behavior was an objectively rough development for both Marte himself and the team.

It's difficult to suggest his season might have played out vastly different had he chosen to show up in Boston. It's possible.

But Marte has always been an emotional player; when things aren't going well, it can be obvious. He's also had excellent overall seasons in years he has been under scrutiny for this type of behavior.

Ultimately, there's no point in continuing to analyze what happened in the past. But the Diamondbacks are going to have to approach Marte a little differently in this regard going forward, and producing on the field will become even more important for the second baseman.