Ketel Marte says no-show came at moment of frustration, D-backs have no guarantees it won’t happen again

PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte returned to Chase Field to face questions from the media, address his teammates and ultimately take the field on Monday, two weeks after he did not show up to Fenway Park.

Marte explained that his absence — which has kept him away from the team and caused a national storyline — came at a moment of frustration. He was not feeling well physically with a sore knee, and he made a decision to not show up or tell anyone, including manager Torey Lovullo.

“I’m the type of person that when something’s going on in my life, I don’t like to talk about it,” Marte said via Spanish interpreter. “So that’s kind of what was going on. … I get along really well with Torey, and in that instance I failed him by not showing up. That morning I woke up, my body was in pain, and I just, I couldn’t react. No one made the decision for me.”

Marte, who wore a necklace with photos of his family, did not address any other possible explanations, including reports that a close family member of his died recently.

 

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This is the fourth straight year when Marte has not played in a game when his team counted on him, dating back to a September 2023 game in Yankee Stadium he did not show up to due to the weather. Lovullo confirmed a report by Arizona Sports on the instance.

Marte apologized publicly last year after he missed three games out of the All-Star break, and he once again reassured Lovullo that this will not happen again.

When asked whether he felt any guarantees that it wouldn’t, Lovullo expressed that he did not have any.

“The other times it has happened, I asked for it to never happen again,” Lovullo said. “And it’s something that is a work in progress. I think he told you he’s human and he’s not perfect. And we all have bad moments and bad days and things that we regret. For him to come up here and tell you guys that, I know it wasn’t easy. And this is as much progress as I’ve seen him make in communicating with you guys and with me, as well. … He’s doing a nice job of really digging in and finding out a little bit about himself.”

Lovullo continued to express his love for Marte, a player he’s known since their respective first seasons in Arizona in 2017. The skipper called these past couple weeks brutal in dealing with this crisis, but he also further explained the balance of dealing with Marte.

Marte is a sensitive person, as Lovullo described, and dropping the hammer on him is believed to have other consequences.

“He’s definitely a retreater,” Lovullo said. “I know you guys want me to sometimes bury him and make him feel even worse than he already does. He doesn’t respond to that. I feel like it’s my job to do that sometimes. And when I do it, he retreats. When something doesn’t go well, he retreats. So is it the first time? It is not the first time. It is not the first time.”

This philosophy has evidently caused a sense of enablement with Marte, a push-and-pull the Diamondbacks have lived with to get the best out of Marte on the field. He is a three-time All-Star and one of the most productive hitters in MLB over the past half-decade.

The D-backs could have traded Marte last offseason before his 10-5 rights kicked in, giving him a no-trade clause. They deemed the return offers not worthy of letting go a face of the franchise, despite his faults.

Lovullo even said he was “proud” of how Marte has responded to this multiple times, continuing to operate carefully with the player.

He wants to move forward, moving past this chapter by focusing on what happens on the field.

Marte claimed he has improved physically from that day in Boston and would feel even better once he addressed his teammates. He spoke to reporters before talking to the clubhouse, and Lovullo said he demanded that Marte speak to everyone at once as opposed to groups. Marte explained he had already apologized to certain teammates and would do so again with the entire group.

“That’s what we’re looking for, become a better player, become a better person,” Marte said. “They know that I’m human and I’ve made mistakes.”

Did Ketel Marte have any message for Diamondbacks fans?

When asked whether he had any specific message for the fans, Marte shook his head.

Lovullo was concerned about the fan response at Chase Field on Monday with the possibility Marte hears boos from fans who have supported him over the years.

“He pays attention to what the fans say and do,” Lovullo said. “Maybe he didn’t answer the question the way he would have if he had a chance to really sit down and say what he wanted to say.”

Marte has had two weeks to figure out how he wanted to handle this situation.

Bringing the clubhouse together and getting on the right page with his teammates was clearly a priority as it should be, but leaving the fans hanging when given the chance to express himself was a swing-and-a-miss.

 

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Did Ketel Marte address his night at the casino?

Marte was asked about his decision to go to a local casino after his rehab work at Salt River Fields while the Diamondbacks were playing the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 21.

Marte defended himself amid the scrutiny of that particular situation.

“I’ve been injured before,” Marte said. “Those are things that I do in my personal time.”

At the time, Lovullo and team president and CEO Derrick Hall admitted it was a bad look but did not break any rules.

First pitch from Chase Field is at 6:40 p.m. MST on Monday. Marte is starting as Arizona’s designated hitter, batting fourth against the Phillies.

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