The Arizona Diamondbacks placed Ketel Marte on the 10-day injured list with left knee inflammation Thursday, a move that came three days after the second baseman failed to show up for the series opener against the Boston Red Sox.<\/p>\n
Marte, who did not play in any of Arizona\u2019s three games in Boston, is expected to rejoin the team before the end of the season, general manager Mike Hazen told reporters, including the Arizona Republic<\/a>. He had previously been placed on the restricted list after his no-show at Fenway Park.<\/p>\n An MRI on Thursday revealed inflammation in Marte\u2019s left knee, Hazen said. Marte exited Friday\u2019s loss to the Atlanta Braves early with left knee soreness, then sat Saturday before fully returning Sunday. Marte received an injection, Hazen said, and could return as soon as the minimum stint has been reached.<\/p>\n Because he was on the restricted list, Marte\u2019s new placement on the injured list cannot be backdated.<\/p>\n Beyond getting the MRI, Marte, his agent, Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo met in person, though few details were offered.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not gonna get into specifics,\u201d Hazen told reporters. \u201cI feel like the conversation and meeting was productive. We discussed the last week. That, obviously, I\u2019m not going to get into. He\u2019ll talk to his teammates at some point, and we\u2019ll go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n MLB\u2019s restricted list is a roster designation that is reserved for players who are not with the club for a personal or non-baseball reason. They remain under contract with their organization, though they are not mandated to be compensated. Placing a player on the restricted list requires approval from MLB.<\/p>\n The move to the 10-day IL culminates a saga that began shortly before first pitch Monday, when the Diamondbacks finally submitted their lineup. Marte had traveled with the club to Boston, but the three-time All-Star was absent. That night, a visibly emotional Lovullo told reporters that Marte had landed on the restricted list because of a \u201cpersonal issue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe deal with a lot as baseball managers, coaches and teachers, so sometimes you get disappointed, sometimes you get let down, but we\u2019re going to figure out how to work through this,\u201d Lovullo said. \u201cI just love him and care for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Tuesday, as Marte\u2019s absence continued to linger, Arizona had few details to offer, other than that Marte had traveled back to Arizona ahead of the team in advance of his imaging.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still hoping he\u2019s OK,\u201d said Lovullo, who told reporters he hadn\u2019t heard from his player. \u201cLooking forward to having a connection with him at some point as soon as possible. Overall, I feel like if you don\u2019t show up to work, something is on your mind, (and) something\u2019s not right, and we\u2019ve got to get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n By Wednesday, the Diamondbacks attempted to turn the page, rallying behind Brandon Pfaadt to escape Boston with a 7-6 extra-innings win and avoid the sweep. The confusion about Marte\u2019s status, however, continued to loom large over the club.<\/p>\n \u201cListen, when it comes to Marte as a player, there\u2019s not too many people that can replace a player like that,\u201d Nolan Arenado said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of the best in the game. So, it is a miss. We\u2019re missing a top-tier player. But at the end of the day, we\u2019re going to continue to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s placement on the IL came hours after Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall called Marte\u2019s unplanned absence \u201cbizarre.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe appeared just fine and then was just a no-show, as you know,\u201d Hall said on a local radio show. \u201cJust bizarre, and we\u2019ve tried to get answers.\u201d<\/p>\n Hall, who was in Boston with the team, noted that he, too, was attempting to connect with Marte, a matter that has been at the heart of the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a bit of a history there,\u201d Hall said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to get explanations from him and apologies from him.\u201d<\/p>\n Marte, a two-time Silver Slugger winner, ranks second all-time in franchise history in games played, just 22 games behind Luis Gonzalez, Arizona\u2019s all-time leader in hits, home runs and RBIs. Should Marte complete the remainder of his contract, one that will take him through his age-36 season, at least, he should take over as the club\u2019s franchise leader in all of those categories.<\/p>\n Since his trade from the Seattle Mariners to the Diamondbacks in 2016, few players have been as productive as Marte. Since 2017, only 24 players have accumulated more fWAR than Marte\u2019s 32.5<\/a>. His 125 wRC+<\/a> is second to Jose Altuve among second basemen over that same stretch.<\/p>\n For as productive as Marte has been for Arizona, however, his time in a Diamondbacks uniform, particularly over the past few seasons, has been marked by strife with the organization, both internal and external.<\/p>\n The now-32-year-old missed a critical game in the final stretch of the 2024 season while his club was attempting to grab hold of a postseason spot, just one season after making a run to the World Series \u2014 a run that was buoyed in large part by Marte, who was named MVP of the 2023 National League Championship Series. However, Arizona missed the postseason that year because of a tiebreaker, with Marte\u2019s absence playing a role.<\/p>\n Last season, Marte missed time once again following the All-Star break, when he took a trip to the Dominican Republic after his home in Phoenix was burglarized, ultimately missing three games. Consequently, Marte was placed on the restricted list. Arizona once again missed October, ending the campaign with an 80-82 record.<\/p>\n Following his absence, Marte addressed reporters in the clubhouse, seemingly atoning for his frequent requests for off-days and an absence that left the club scrambling.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, obviously due to the circumstances of my situation, I got frustrated and was in a bad spot,\u201d Marte told reporters in August 2025. \u201cBut I truly want to apologize for my teammates and everybody else that is supporting the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the winter, Arizona considered dealing Marte to another club. His team-friendly contract (seven years and $116.5 million, of which $41 million is deferred, and the payouts don\u2019t begin until 10 years after the money is earned) coupled with his surge in production (back-to-back Silver Slugger awards and All-Star nominations) made him an attractive target for clubs while also allowing the Diamondbacks to bolster their pitching depth.<\/p>\n By January, however, the Diamondbacks had fully committed to Marte, essentially taking him off the market. Doing so carried larger ramifications for both parties, as Marte gained 10-and-5 rights \u2014 10 years of service and five consecutive years with the same club \u2014 after the 10th day of the 2026 season, earning full no-trade clause protection. Previously, Marte operated under a limited no-trade clause that included five teams: the Athletics, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.<\/p>\n The absence, though temporary, could not come at a worse time for the Diamondbacks as they attempt to gain possession of one of three wild-card spots. At times, Arizona has wavered between the NL\u2019s second and third wild-card spots; however, after going 5-5 over its past 10 games, the team is on the outside looking in, sitting one game back of the San Diego Padres. The clubs have gone 5-5 against each other this year and will meet in San Diego for the season\u2019s final three games. As it stands, Arizona does not have a tiebreaker.<\/p>\n After Thursday\u2019s off day, Arizona will play 10 games in nine days, six of which will be at home against the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs. The remaining four are against the San Francisco Giants. The earliest Marte can return is Aug. 30, provided he\u2019s healthy and ready to finish the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Arizona Diamondbacks placed Ketel Marte on the 10-day injured list with left knee inflammation Thursday, a move…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[485,49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-865975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}