Hurry! All-MLB Team voting ends today, 3 MT
PHOENIX -- Center fielder Ketel Marte and third baseman Eduardo Escobar were two of the stalwarts in the Arizona Diamondbacks lineup in 2019, at times carrying the load by themselves.
The pair were the first set of National League switch-hitting teammates to reach the 30-plus home run plateau and second overall in baseball history, joining Francisco Lindor and José Ramírez of the 2018 Indians.
So, it’s no surprise Marte and Escobar are the two D-backs candidates for the 2019 All-MLB team.
The selection process for the 2019 All-MLB Team began Monday and runs through 3 p.m. MT on Dec. 3, with 50 percent of the vote coming from fans and 50 percent coming from a panel of experts.
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Fans can vote once every 24 hours between now and when voting ends next Tuesday. The inaugural All-MLB Team will be announced on Dec. 10 at baseball’s annual Winter Meetings in San Diego.
There will be a first team and second team All-MLB, and voters are asked only to consider performance during the regular season when casting their ballots. Each team will include one selection at each position (including designated hitter and three outfielders, regardless of specific outfield position), five starting pitchers and two relievers.
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Marte -- who also filled in when needed at second base -- had a breakout season that landed him a fourth-place finish in the Most Valuable Player Award voting.
Marte could have finished higher had a stress reaction in his back not ended his season in mid-September.
“He continued to get big hit after big hit for us and made things happen,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said.
• All-MLB Team nominees, club-by-club
Escobar, meanwhile, was an RBI machine for the D-backs, driving in 118 runs while hitting 35 homers.
With 29 doubles and 10 triples to go along with the home run and RBI totals, Escobar was just the fourth switch-hitter in Major League history to record 30-plus homers, 20-plus doubles and 10-plus triples in a single season, joining Ripper Collins (1934), Mickey Mantle (1955) and Jimmy Rollins (2007).