Padres’ hidden Wild Card advantage comes into focus amid Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte uncertainty

The Padres have shown us that baseball teams can survive ugly losses and miserable stretches at the plate. Different teams do it every season. But what they can’t afford is uncertainty about what could be going on with one of their best players. 

That’s where the Diamondbacks find themselves with Ketel Marte. There have been moments with him over the years, but the latest incident started when he failed to report to Fenway Park for an Aug. 17 game against the Red Sox. Marte had been expected to serve as their DH. Instead, the lineup was delayed, Marte showed up late, didn’t play, and the Diamondbacks eventually placed him on the restricted list.

Arizona lost 11-1 that night. Manager Torey Lovullo later acknowledged that the ordeal made it difficult for the club to maintain its focus.

The Padres and Diamondbacks are separated by two games in the NL Wild Card race. One team is trying to finish a remarkable climb through the standings. The other just spent a week answering critical questions about why its star second baseman disappeared without properly communicating with his manager or teammates.

Marte is clearly dealing with something bigger than a box score, and that deserves empathy. The details remain private, as they should. For the Padres, the relevant takeaway is organizational. The Friars are entering a stretch run with clear expectations, steady leadership and fewer questions demanding answers.

Padres are showing the accountability Arizona suddenly needs

Marte eventually returned to Phoenix for an MRI that revealed inflammation in his left knee. Arizona moved him from the restricted list to the 10-day IL, and Lovullo described the ensuing conversation between Marte, his agent and Diamondbacks officials as a “very productive meeting.”

Then came another round of uncomfortable questions. Marte was photographed at a Scottsdale casino while the Diamondbacks were playing at home. He had completed his required rehabilitation work that morning and violated no team rule. Lovullo correctly acknowledged that Marte was free to spend his evening however he wanted. In the same breath, he also admitted it was not a choice he would have made.

Honestly, the casino thing is just noise. The no-show at Fenway is the bigger problem. An injured player spending an evening away from the ballpark is ordinary. A star player failing to report for a game while his manager and teammates struggle to determine what is happening is anything but ordinary.

Now compare that episode to what the Padres have endured. They dropped eight consecutive games earlier this summer, its longest losing streak since 2013. The rotation was being held together with loose parts out of the bargain bin. The offense disappeared at the worst possible times.

On July 10, the Padres were 5 1/2 games outside a postseason spot and sitting 11th in the NL. They responded by running the gauntlet and climbing past six teams in roughly a month. Fernando Tatis Jr. credited the turnaround to the Padres coming together. Tatis, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill began carrying the offense. Role players started supplying more production. Craig Stammen navigated an overworked bullpen and an injury-ravaged rotation until A.J. Preller could deliver reinforcements.

There were plenty of chances for the Padres’ season to become a blame game. Their veteran core chose accountability.

When Xander Bogaerts was dropped to eighth in the lineup after months of poor production, his response was direct: “Play better.”

No grievance aired through the media. No public sulking about status or salary. Bogaerts understood why the move happened and owned his performance.

Tatis was similarly honest when San Diego’s stars finally began producing together. That was what they were paid to do. That was what the team expected from them.

This is what clubhouse stability is supposed to look like, especially down the stretch. It shows up when proven players accept criticism, struggling stars keep working and a team responds to adversity.

Stammen may be a first-year manager, but he is hardly a stranger trying to learn the organization on the fly. The 2026 season is his 10th with the Padres. He previously shared a clubhouse with Machado, Tatis, Joe Musgrove and Adrian Morejon. He understands the personalities involved because he once stood beside them as a teammate. That familiarity has value now.

Arizona is hoping its productive meeting with Marte produces the same clarity. Maybe it will. He’s expected to return, and his presence would immediately make the Diamondbacks more dangerous. At the same time, players have also voiced their frustration with his decision making. There’s a lot more for the Dbacks to overcome than just penciling Marte back into the lineup.

That difference doesn’t mean the Padres have secured their spot in the postseason. But it does give them an underrated advantage as the season winds down.

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