The plot thickens in the ongoing saga between Ketel Marte and the Arizona Diamondbacks. On Tuesday, multiple reports began circulating that the second baseman was headed back to Phoenix to undergo an MRI on his left knee. This comes following a bizarre series of events that resulted in Marte being placed on the restricted list due to a “personal matter”.
On Friday, the 32 year old was removed from his team’s game against the Atlanta Braves due to left knee soreness. He would then sit out Saturday’s game before returning to action on Sunday. Marte would go 0-3 with a walk and a run scored in an eventual 5-3 loss to the Braves.
He was then pencilled in to DH the series opener against the Red Sox on Monday, but failed to show up for the game. According to reports, the club waited until 20 minutes before first pitch to officially remove him from the lineup, and place him on the restricted list.
The restricted list in Major League Baseball is an official roster status for a player who remains under contract but is away from the team due to unexcused absences, personal matters, or an unexpected retirement. Arizona would go on to suffer a lopsided 11-1 loss to Boston, and have provided little in the way of details in the aftermath of the no-show.
“It’s been a crazy day,” manager Torey Lovullo said after the loss. “All I know is that he’s dealing with a personal issue. We’re trying to figure that out, and he didn’t show up today and he was put on the restricted list. That’s as much as I know right now. I just was doing my best to reach out to him, and there was very little coming back.”
“We deal with a lot as baseball managers and coaches and teachers,” Lovullo continued. “So, you know, sometimes you get disappointed, sometimes you get let down. But we’re going to figure out how to work through this.”
When asked when the Diamondbacks expected Marte to return to the club, neither Lovullo nor GM Mike Hazen could provide any additional updates.
Multiple sources confirmed that Marte had travelled with the team from Atlanta to Boston, with one report indicating that he was seen at the team hotel prior to the series opener. Following the scratch of Marte from the lineup, the club recalled infielder Jose Fernandez from Triple-A Reno with Lars Nootbaar getting shifted into the DH role temporarily.
It’s the latest chapter in what’s been a rocky year for Marte in the desert. Late last season, Arizona beat reporters began publishing stories that other members of the Diamondbacks roster had grown frustrated with Marte’s work habits. Although both Lovullo and Hazen backed the infielder publicly, it did little to calm the rumours that he was on the trade block for much of the offseason.
On the field, the switch hitter has 21 home runs on the year to pace the team, will adding 65 runs scored and 67 RBIs for good measure. His .249 average is well below his career average of .278 but it’s been enough to help keep Arizona in the thick of the NL wildcard race for most of the season.
Currently sporting a 66-60 record, the D-Backs are 1 game back of fellow NL West rivals San Diego for the final wildcard spot at the moment. While Marte seems to be poised to return to the club at some point this season, the last few days will only add fuel to the fire that an offseason parting of ways could be on the horizon.
Complicating matters further is that in April of this year, the Dominican star earned 10-and-5 rights giving him a full no trade clause moving forward. How this issue plays out over the coming weeks is anyone’s guess at this point.
Photo: Hayden Schiff. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.