Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, and Geraldo Perdomo Are Still Searching for Their Swing, and Arizona's Offense Knows It

The Arizona Diamondbacks' top three hitters are supposed to carry the load. Instead, they're barely getting their bats off their shoulders, and it's becoming a real problem for a team that used to rake.

Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, and Geraldo Perdomo combined for four hits and one run in Monday's series opener against the Texas Rangers. One. Run. In a 1-0 win. Manager Torey Lovullo knows what he's watching, and he's not thrilled about it even though his team grabbed the victory. "We need those top three to get moving in the right direction," Lovullo said. The offense that led all of baseball with 886 runs in 2024 and placed sixth with 791 runs last season is now ranking in the bottom third in scoring. That's not a typo. That's a collapse.

The Lineup Shuffle Isn't Hiding the Real Issue

Lovullo has been playing musical chairs with his top three all season. Marte has hit first and second. Carroll has hit second and third. Perdomo has bounced around all three spots. It's a sign of a manager trying anything to spark something, anything to get one of these guys rolling.

Monday gave him a sliver of hope. Back-to-back doubles from Carroll and Perdomo in the first inning? That's what the offense is capable of. Carroll went 1-for-2 with two walks. Perdomo finished 2-for-4 with an RBI. Marte contributed 1-for-4. They got it done in a 1-0 game, but Lovullo made it clear this isn't sustainable. "It's not anything we want to keep doing. We want to bang the baseball and score a lot of runs," he said.

The numbers tell the story. Carroll is hitting .261 with five homers and 20 RBIs, which is the best of the trio. Perdomo improved his average to .228. Marte is sitting at .213. According to Lovullo, "They are all doing OK, but I think they are better than just doing OK." That's manager speak for "we know they're capable of way more than this."

Gallen Needs to Find His Fastball Against a Rangers Team That's Hungry

Tuesday brings Zac Gallen to the mound for Arizona, facing off against Texas left-hander MacKenzie Gore in the middle game of the three-game set in Arlington. It's not ideal timing for the D-backs pitcher.

Gallen is 0-2 with a 5.08 ERA in his past six starts and hasn't won since April 1. On Thursday against Pittsburgh, he threw a season-high 100 pitches in a 4-2 loss, surrendering four runs and two homers in six innings. On the road this season, he's been even worse: 0-2 with a 7.13 ERA in four starts. There's one bright spot in his resume, though. He's 3-1 with a 2.67 ERA in six career starts against the Rangers, so he knows how to get these hitters out when it counts.

Gore hasn't been sharp lately either. After a strong start, he's 0-3 with a 6.85 ERA since April 8. His last outing against New York was brutal. He held a 2-1 lead through five innings on Thursday before the Yankees exploded for five runs in the sixth in a 9-2 loss. A catchable popup that fell for a hit helped spark the rally. "I think after every good or bad outing, you have to be honest," Gore said. "There's definitely some things we did better than the last one here. We're going to move on. It's frustrating right now."

Texas managed just four hits off Michael Soroka and three relievers on Monday after shutting out Chicago in the final two games of the weekend series. But manager Skip Schumaker wasn't happy with the execution. "The last two days were good," he said. "(Monday

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