Could the Ketel Kerfuffle cost Torey Lovullo his job with the Diamondbacks?
After so much drama and talk surrounding D-backs' Ketel Marte, the ongoing distraction could be costly near the top of the organization.
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The Ketel Marte saga has bruised a lot of feelings.
Many fans are blaming the media for poor timing, for sabotaging a hot streak, for loose lips that sink ships. Geraldo Perdomo even interrupted Torey Lovullo’s postgame press conference Sunday in Denver to chide the media, imploring us to leave his shellshocked teammate alone.
Astonishing. Such a scene would never be tolerated in New York or Boston, much less celebrated. Especially when the player in question is so coddled and occasionally self-absorbed.
A brief reminder for the goldfish in the audience: Marte asked off a Monday game entering the final week of the season in 2024, when the Diamondbacks were fighting for their playoff lives. Fair or not, his actions caused deep ripples inside the organization, especially after the team missed out on the postseason by one game.
Athletic heroes generally rise to stardom because they rise to the occasion, playing through pain and injury when it’s paramount to the team’s success. Marte did the opposite. It didn’t sit well with anyone, including a good chunk of teammates. A golden opportunity was lost.
It reached peak absurdity in 2025 when Marte asked off the Sunday before the All-Star Game; irked some teammates by hauling around the bases on a double during an exhibition game, running with reckless abandon; and then granting himself a brief vacation afterwards. His seat on Ken Kendrick’s private plane to Arizona went unoccupied because he was on his way to the Dominican Republic.
Yes, there are mitigating circumstances. Marte was victimized by a coordinated house robbery that occurred while he was at the All-Star Game. But either way, he was never coming back in time for Friday’s game, which struck teammates as incredibly entitled.
Marte also missed Ketel Marte Bobblehead night at Chase Field. He was not in the lineup the following Sunday and the team didn’t pay him during his absence. They are clearly not condoning his behavior. So why are you?
Answer: Because nobody wants to turn on a player as swaggy, entertaining and lovable as Marte. That’s understandable. But please don’t blame the media for telling hard truths at our own peril, out of respect and dedication to the story, the reader, the viewer and the listener.
Veteran baseball columnist Bob Nightengale said the team should’ve suspended Marte for a week instead of running cover for their treatment of a star player. Otherwise, the manager is bound to lose his grip on the room. And there are clearly signs that some players have long been irritated with Marte because Lovullo won’t hold him accountable.
This is where Marte is both the villain and a victim in one of the strangest episodes in team history, a player handled so gently that maybe he never thought he was doing anything egregiously wrong.
When Perdomo crashed and upstaged Lovullo’s press conference in Denver, hellbent on providing shelter for Marte, many hailed the emergence of the next great clubhouse leader in team history.
It sounded different to me. And it felt like the end of an era and a manager.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM and the Arizona Sports app.
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Comments
37 Comments
The look at me, I'm not part of the problem dichotomy of this article is laughable . . . Which is it (?): We're non-bias journalists dealing in facts. . . Or . . . We have nothing to do with causing "issues" with a team, as we're irrelevant to how they play. Can't have it both ways. Bottom line: Management gambled on two high end starting pitchers, and both had Tommy John. The bull pen had a ton of injuries, and the one's who aren't hurt suck at their job. TL, like today's parents, tries to be friends with his "kids"/players, and the new pitching coach/3rd base coach stink. Add of that together, and the Manager is getting let go, as he should. IF none of what I listed as a bottom line, they'd be competing for the divisional title . . . And if my uncle was "transitioning" to my aunt, he'd look like Bick.
Torey is the cancer on this team and has been for 3 years now and should have been fired years ago and until management sees this nothing will change. Easier to get rid of a manager who sucks then a star player whos carried you this year and how many games has he one with clutch hits this season. TOREY MUST GO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tough to blame the manager when you have no starters or bullpen to work with. I don't blame TL or Marte or any of the starters. Unfortunate that all your decent pitchers are on IL or rehab. We could be in the thick of things if not for that.