Ketel Marte is coming back from his no-show: A timeline of how we got here

How Ketel Marte re-integrates in the clubhouse and on the field could map out this Diamondbacks season and potentially his future in Arizona.

BY ALEX WEINER & JOHN GAMBADORO

Aug 31, 2026, 5:59 AM Updated: 6:04 am

Follow on Google News

Watch: Will Ketel Marte’s return HURT the Diamondbacks' chemistry? | 7 mins

After two weeks of speculation, comments of support and frustration from Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo and Arizona players, and trickling details revealing why a star player stepped away without saying anything during a pennant chase, Ketel Marte is coming back.

The slugging second baseman, who no-showed a game on Aug. 17 and has not played since, is set to return on Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies.

How he re-integrates both in the clubhouse and on the field will go a long way in determining where this Diamondbacks season is going and potentially Marte’s future in Arizona.

The veteran has not spoken to the media about his absence as of Monday morning, so he will have to provide his side of the story to his teammates and the fans.

Lovullo has described a scene of a player frustrated about his knee injury and the team’s handling of it.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that a player heard Marte say, “You guys don’t need me. I’m not playing well. It doesn’t matter.” The D-backs had won a game without Marte in Atlanta and lost when he returned the following day. That latter game on Aug. 16, was Marte’s last appearance.

Rosenthal’s article also included a detail that Marte is dealing with the loss of a close family member.

There is a lot going on, and perhaps Marte will have a better explanation, but Lovullo said Marte admitted during a meeting with him and general manager Mike Hazen that he did not handle this ordeal well. Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall and Lovullo have said publicly that Marte owes the clubhouse an apology and an explanation, and several players speaking on the record expressed a desire to hear the truth first-hand.

Marte is an all-time great Diamondback, and there is a statistical and franchise impact argument that his number should be retired one day.

The veteran should set most of Arizona’s franchise hitting records, considering he is signed for another four years with a player option for 2031. Marte needs 23 more games played to pass Luis Gonzalez for the most in Diamondbacks history.

Marte has made the All-Star Game three times, won the 2023 NLCS MVP and set a major league postseason hitting streak record.

And yet, it is hard to gauge how fans will react to Marte’s return from the injured list, which is coming at a critical juncture for the team’s playoff push.

Fans online have been split in their unwavering support of Marte and anger over his decisions to leave the team hanging in consecutive years. No matter what his reasoning is, Marte has done his team a disservice by failing to communicate and showing up to important games.

Lovullo described Marte as a caring person who sometimes retreats, and the Diamondbacks need their slugging second baseman to instill trust that he will be on the front lines to give them their best chance to make the postseason.

That’s why Marte’s psyche is such an important plot point. If he comes back confident and starts hitting, potential boos will turn to cheers. Winning covers many warts. He might even save Lovullo’s job, as the manager is in the final year of his contract and faces the threat of a third straight year with no playoffs.

Marte also has the chance to prove yet again that all of the drama that follows him is worth the hassle if he delivers. It would be on a grander scale than his walk-off home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers after he sat against Shohei Ohtani.

His lasting image as a Diamondback could be at stake as the franchise enters another offseason needing to decide whether they can get back on the ride in 2027.

How did it come to this?

For a better understanding of these incidents, let’s go through the timeline set up with reporting by Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro:

Ketel Marte’s history of leaving the Diamondbacks hanging

2023

The one that has not been reported until now.

Based on numerous conversations, we can report that Marte did not show up to Yankee Stadium for a game on Sept. 24. He was penciled in the lineup and reports came out afterwards that he was sick, but there was no report of him not being at Yankee Stadium.

This game was played in windy and rainy conditions and started 50 minutes late. The rain never stopped.

Marte was not ill, sources said. He believed the game would be postponed like the prior game on Saturday. So he stayed at the hotel. Every player on the team showed up despite the potential postponement except for one.

This situation was similar to Boston, as the Diamondbacks waited and waited for Marte to show up and he never did. So, the first of the Marte no-shows we know about was in 2023 at Yankee Stadium while the D-backs were fighting to clinch a playoff spot.

2024

It was the day after the Diamondbacks suffered a brutal loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, a game they once led 8-0. With six games left in the season and Arizona in the lead for a Wild Card spot, Marte told his coaches that if they wanted the best version of him for the last week of the season, he needed the next game off.

That next game was against the San Francisco Giants. Marte pinch hit late and struck out, and the Diamondbacks lost the game, 6-3.

Marte went 4-for-20 in that final stretch that saw the D-backs lose out on a tiebreaker for the Wild Card by losing four of their final six games.

2025

Marte did not play the final game before the All-Star break in Anaheim, as the Diamondbacks were battling for a Wild Card spot. But he played in the All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Marte, Eugenio Suarez and Corbin Carroll all traveled by private plane provided by the Diamondbacks to Atlanta. But after the game — and after Marte’s house in Arizona was burglarized the night of the game — only Suarez and Carroll returned on that plane to Phoenix.

Marte was penciled in the lineup for a Friday home game against St. Louis but did not show up and did not answer numerous calls or text messages asking where he was.

He eventually answered on Saturday through an iPad from the Dominican Republic after he was threatened with a suspension and a fine. His absence was not planned. It was not approved. He did not play in any of the Diamondbacks-Cardinals games that weekend, in which Arizona won all three games. He returned for the following Houston series in which the Diamondbacks lost all three games.

2026

Marte no-showed the first game of the Red Sox series in Boston on Monday, Aug. 17.

He was seen at the team hotel the night before at 11 p.m. local time with a group of friends close to him. The Diamondbacks waited until there were 10 minutes before first pitch to release a lineup, hoping Marte showed up.

Marte never did. He did not call his manager, general manager, teammates or coaches.

He was placed on the restricted list and returned to Arizona for an MRI. He met with his agent, Hazen and Lovullo the following Thursday and was transferred to the 10-day IL. There was no explanation given as to why he failed to show up for the Red Sox game or why he did not communicate his feelings with anyone.

The plan on Monday is for Marte to address the clubhouse after he arrives at the ballpark. Teammates are expected to be receptive, maintaining the goal to make the postseason this season, with Marte giving them the best chance of that.

Can someone capable of carrying the offense find that form and put this episode behind him for this season?