Diamondbacks place Ketel Marte on IL, call up Tim Tawa

The Arizona Diamondbacks placed All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a strained left hamstring, the club announced.

The D-backs recalled infielder Tim Tawa from Triple-A Reno to fill in as Marte recovers.

Marte hit a double in the first inning of Friday’s victory over the Washington Nationals but pulled up lame while running the bases. He exited the game, and the Diamondbacks later announced he suffered the strain.

The switch-hitter was two days removed from the club having announced he signed a six-year extension. Marte started the year off batting .346 (9-for-26) in eight games with three doubles and six runs scored.

Marte is coming off his second All-Star campaign in which he hit .292 with a .932 OPS and 36 home runs, finishing third in the NL MVP race.

The Diamondbacks have been the third highest-scoring offense in MLB thus far, but losing such a weapon atop the order for the time being is a significant impediment.

Marte went on the injured list twice in 2021 with hamstring strains, suffering one in each leg. He dealt with a left hamstring issue in 2022 but avoided the IL.

In Marte’s stead, Tawa will man second base along with utility infielder Garrett Hampson, who replaced Marte on Friday. Versatile infielder Blaze Alexander remains on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain he suffered early in spring training.

Tim Tawa replaces Ketel Marte on roster

Tawa is set to make his major league debut at 25 years old, cracking the 40-man roster after Arizona protected him from the Rule 5 Draft over the winter. He was not in the lineup for Reno on Friday after the Marte injury occurred.

The right-handed batter was an 11th-round pick by Arizona in 2021 out of Stanford who has steadily climbed the ranks over the past three years.

Last season, Tawa played 142 games between Double-A Amarillo and Reno and produced an .868 OPS, 31 home runs and 14 stolen bases. He struck out at a 20.9% clip (MLB average is 22.2%).

He has played in six minor league games to start this season and has been hot out of the gate. Tawa is batting .391 with three home runs, two doubles and two steals already.

Tawa played everywhere on defense except pitcher and catcher last year, but he spent most of his time at second base or first base.

He climbed to No. 25 on Arizona’s prospects list via MLB Pipeline.

The Diamondbacks had infield options to pick from in Reno.

Top prospect Jordan Lawlar continues to play everyday for the Aces. He focused on shortstop and third base during spring training but has started to play more second base this week.

After an injury-impacted 2024 season, Lawlar performed well in spring and is expected to play a role in the major leagues at some point this season. He started in Reno to build up reps while the Diamondbacks’ starting infield entered the season strong.

Grae Kessinger is another infielder on the 40-man roster, while Ildemaro Vargas is on a minor league deal.

Vargas remained in big league camp until the final weekend of spring training as he competed with Hampson for the utility role. This is his third stint with the organization after spending much of the past three seasons with the Nationals.

The Diamondbacks’ series against Washington continues at 1:05 p.m. Follow the action on the Arizona Sports app, 98.7 or online.

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