The Ketel Marte saga just keeps getting stranger.
Marte, one of the best players in baseball and a key part of the Arizona Diamondbacks lineup since the 2017 season, traveled with his team to Boston ahead of their very important series with the Red Sox at Fenway Park. And then just never showed up to the stadium.
Not only did he not show up, he didn’t tell the team front office, his manager, or his teammates that he wouldn’t be there. Arizona waited until 20 minutes before first pitch to put him on the restricted list, and when asked about it after the game, manager Torey Lovullo admitted that “there was very little coming back” from Marte about his absence.
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Lovullo also acknowledged that nobody was even sure if Marte was still in Boston, or if he’d left to return to Phoenix or elsewhere. His agent then issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the 32-year-old is dealing with a “personal matter” and has a knee injury that requires an MRI.
“[Marte] is currently managing a personal matter and will be undergoing an MRI on his knee tomorrow. 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,” the statement said.
On Thursday, the story turned even more bizarre, as team executives admitted they still have no idea what’s going on or why Marte never showed up to the stadium. In a new interview with “Bickley & Marotta” on 98.7 in Phoenix, team president and CEO Derrick Hall admitted that it’s a “mystery” what happened with Marte.
“Still a complete mystery,” Hall said on Thursday morning. “It’s just bizarre.”
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Hall added that Marte will need to provide more details on what happened, as well as apologize to his teammates and the organization, in order to “hopefully” move on.
“We’re going to have to get explanations from him and apologies from him and hopefully we can pick up the pieces and move on and turn the page,” he said.
What made it even more odd is that Hall said he saw Marte at the team hotel on Sunday and “he appeared just fine and then was just a no-show, as you know. Just bizarre, and we’ve tried to get answers.”
More specifically, Hall added that there’s no excuse for not showing up without prior communication and an explanation.
“Any player who has a responsibility to be at the ballpark needs to be there, unless it’s been prearranged” he said, as the team traveled home to Phoenix. “We’re not sure what (this situation) is, that’s why we want to hear what the results of the MRI are right away, and still, we need to know: ‘OK, if you were feeling sore, if you were hurting, why didn’t you go and have treatment?’ That’s what you do.
“Personally, I’m disappointed 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…Maybe there will be a reason to help him, and if it a personal issue as his agent is [saying], we need to hear what that is and see if there’s a way for us to help him or alleviate this whole situation.”
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Any player not showing up to their team’s game without an explanation would be bizarre and inexplicable. But for one of the best players in the sport, who’s making $20 million a year, to not tell his team what’s happening? That’s one of the weirdest baseball stories in years.
Maybe Marte does have a serious personal issue to deal with. Or his apparent knee injury has taken a turn for the worse. Those are legitimate reasons to not play, though, and all it would take for the absence to be excused is a text or phone call. For Marte to not have the courtesy to do any of it? When his team is fighting for a playoff spot? That’s tough to forgive or forget.
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