Diamondbacks optimistic for Ketel Marte return during road trip
Sep 4, 2024, 6:18 PM
Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks fields a ball prior to the 94th MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard at Globe Life Field on July 16, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO — It is looking increasingly likely Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star Ketel Marte will follow Christian Walker back to the field before this road trip is over.
The D-backs finish their series at Oracle Park on Thursday and head to Houston for three games against the Astros over the weekend. Manager Torey Lovullo did not have a definitive answer, but he said he feels based on Marte’s progress (high-ankle sprain) that the second baseman will be back in the lineup on this trip.
“I feel like some of the information I’m seeing, nothing anybody’s telling me, but I’ve been around long enough to know that when I see certain habits and see certain things written or told to me, that it’s going to be sooner than later,” Lovullo said. “So yeah, I’m hoping to keep my fingers crossed before the trip is over.”
Assistant general manager Mike Fitzgerald shared a similar sentiment with Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke.
“We’re hopeful that we see Ketel possibly this weekend, he was pushing himself pretty hard physically yesterday,” Fitzgerald said. “The plan was to do that again today, see how it responds. Then hopefully we get to see him in that Houston series.”
Marte got in some higher-intensity running on Tuesday along with his hitting and fielding work.
As for how the D-backs plan to ease Marte back in, Lovullo said Marte might be the designated hitter for a couple spins first before playing the field.
Lovullo said the club is confident Marte would be able to play just about every day once reinstated, but the team will be cautious like with Walker (oblique strain). Walker played his first game in over a month on Tuesday, was out of the lineup Wednesday but will be back in there Thursday as he works through the expected soreness.
Marte put together one of the best months in baseball before the initial injury, with a 1.208 OPS and a league-leading 12 home runs from July 10-Aug. 9. He suffered an ankle injury on Aug. 10 when Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs slid into his leg, and the club put him on the injured list more than a week later on Aug. 19.
Lovullo had said Marte’s return during the road trip was a possibility before the team departed.
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