The Diamondbacks are transferring Ketel Marte from the restricted list to the 10-day injured list, general manager Mike Hazen tells Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. The GM added that the star second baseman is expected to resume playing once he’s healthy. John Gamabdoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM reports that Marte is dealing with inflammation in his upper hamstring and medial joint in his left knee.
Marte was surprisingly placed on the restricted list on Monday. The D-Backs initially announced that he was dealing with a personal issue after he failed to show up at Fenway Park for the series opener against the Red Sox. They said the next day that he was flying back to Phoenix for imaging on his knee, which had caused him to miss Saturday’s game in Atlanta.
His agent, Charisse Dash of The Movement Baseball, provided a statement to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi on Wednesday morning. “He is currently managing a personal matter and will be undergoing an MRI on his knee (Thursday). Ketel appreciates the unwavering support from fans, teammates, the Diamondbacks organization and Torey Lovullo during this time. He remains optimistic about his recovery and looks forward to returning to the field to contribute to the team as soon as possible.”
Hazen appeared on The Wolf & Luke Show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM later in the day Wednesday and noted that the sides had an in-person meeting scheduled today at the team’s Arizona complex. Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports that Hazen, Lovullo, Marte and Dash all participated.
“We are fully committed to helping, in any way that we can, figure out how this gets better and moves forward,” Hazen told Wolf & Luke yesterday. “We have been that way since day one. Players go through things. It’s a long season, things happen. We deal with stuff that you never hear about.”
Hazen then offered a passionate defense of Lovullo’s work with players. “I know there’s some boomerang back on the manager and how he handles things in our clubhouse. This guy treats our players with respect. He handles situations not just with kid gloves. He gets in the dirt with these guys and lays it out there to them too, but he doesn’t go out there publicly and talk about it because that’s not the professionalism required to maintain a steady clubhouse and a consistently competing baseball team.”
D-Backs president/CEO Derrick Hall also addressed the situation on Thursday morning in his own appearance on 98.7 FM. He suggested the relationship between player and team is reparable. “We’re going to have to get explanations from him and apologies from him. Hopefully we can pick up the pieces, move on and turn the page. … But obviously he is a great talent, a great player, and we’ve always said we’re a better team with him. So, hoping that we can get some answers and we can see him back on the field here soon.”
Hall also addressed the possibility of a knee injury. “If a player’s hurt, they need to go in and get treatment. We’re not sure what it is. That’s why we want to hear the results of the MRI right away, and still, ‘if you were feeling sore and hurting, why didn’t you go in and have treatment?’ That’s what you do. So yeah, personally, I’m disappointed that a player didn’t show up and go where he was supposed to, but I can get past it if I hear a reason why.”
Those comments came before the in-person meeting this afternoon that apparently smoothed things over. Hazen declined to provide specifics beyond calling it a “productive” conversation. D-Backs fans are encouraged to listen to both interviews in full.
Arizona is one game behind the Padres in the Wild Card race. Ildemaro Vargas moved to second base with Tim Tawa at first base during the Boston series. Rookie infielder Jose Fernandez is in the infield mix as well. The Snakes also added glove-first utility player Santiago Espinal on a minor league contract this evening. Marte is signed through 2031 and has full no-trade rights after reaching 10 years of service time in April.
