D-backs receive ‘encouraging news’ on injured OF Ketel Marte, P Joakim Soria

While the Diamondbacks sat in the cold Ohio weather ahead of Wednesday’s matchups with the Cincinnati Reds, skipper Torey Lovullo provided what he called “encouraging news” on the injured Arizona players, most notably outfielder Ketel Marte and pitcher Joakim Soria.

Both Marte and Soria haven’t played since the beginning of the month, having suffered a right hamstring strain and left calf strain, respectively.

“Ketel Marte is doing some forward running with a focus on running mechanics,” Lovullo said via Zoom. “It’s a little bit more than what he was doing in the pool. He’s also had his throwing program, he’s taken BP on the field and he’s going to get some live [at-bats] today off of Joakim Soria, who’s going to face hitters for the first time.”

In six games played this season (28 plate appearances), Marte has registered 12 hits, five RBIs and five runs scored. He’s been walked twice and struck out four times. The outfielder is averaging .462 to go along with a 1.346 OPS.

Soria, on the other hand, was unable to complete a full inning before going down with his injury. In 0.2 innings of work, Soria issued two walks and threw a wild pitch. He faced just four batters before getting hurt.

Lovullo also spoke on first baseman Christian Walker and outfielder Tim Locastro, who are working on returning from an oblique strain and dislocated pinky, respectively.

– Walker got a bat in his hand and took some light swings. He’s running, taking ground balls and also throwing, all pain-free.

– Locastro is doing some very light conditioning due to the stitches in his finger. The team is trying to minimize the amount of sweat that is going to be on his hand. Until those stitches come out, Locastro is most likely going to continue some really light exercise and light baseball activity.

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