BOSTON — Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo tried on Tuesday, Aug. 18, to start turning the page from the Ketel Marte saga from the day before, acknowledging that he held a team meeting after the game on Monday night, Aug. 17, in hopes of getting his club “redirected” and ready for the second game of this three-game set at Fenway Park.
Lovullo offered little in the way of details. He said he still did not know why Marte did not show up the ballpark the day before, prompting Marte’s placement on the restricted list with what the team described as a “personal issue.”
Though Marte is said to be traveling back to Arizona to undergo an MRI on his left knee, Lovullo said he did not know if that was connected to his absence on Monday.
Lovullo
was asked if he is expecting Marte to return to the team relatively soon.
“I hope so,” Lovullo said. “We need him. He’s a good player. One of the best players in the National League as far as I’m concerned.”
Lovullo said he still had not spoken to Marte despite apparent efforts to do so.
“I didn’t have a chance to,” Lovullo said. “I’ll continue to do my best in that space, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
Marte exited a game over the weekend in Atlanta with what the team described as left knee soreness. He missed the next game as well before returning to the lineup on Sunday, Aug. 16. He then traveled with the club to Boston but did not come to the ballpark.
Lovullo told reporters before Monday’s game that Marte was penciled in as the designated hitter but that he might ask him to shift to second base instead. Lovullo did not seem to think that was a factor in Marte’s no-show; he said he never actually asked him to play second.
“It never got that far,” Lovullo said. “He never showed up, so I was not able to have that discussion with him.”
Lovullo admitted to a “little” surprise he had not yet spoken with Marte.
“He and I have a very strong relationship, maybe like a father/son relationship,” he said. “That explains how much he’s hurting right now. I just want to be available to him. He knows I’m available. When he’s ready, he’ll reach out.”
Marte is returning to Arizona to undergo an MRI a day after teammate Nolan Arenado underwent the same sort of test in Boston.
“I don’t know the reasons for that,” Lovullo said. “I think it might have been his request to go back to see our doctors in Phoenix.”
Teammate Geraldo Perdomo said he also remained in the dark about Marte’s no-show on Monday. He said he asked him about it that day but did not get an answer and moved on to questions about his knee.
“I don’t have any details,” Perdomo said. “The only text message I sent to him was asking about his knee. I don’t want to bother him with (all that other stuff); I just wanted to see if his knee is OK.”
Lovullo thought the club’s sloppy play in their 11-1 loss on Monday night prompted him to say something after the game.
“I think it was important for us to get redirected and realigned and understand what our daily goal is,” he said. “Yesterday we lost a little bit of focus. I’m not going to lie; it was a tough day for everyone. Today is a new day. We all slept as best we could and we walked into this clubhouse to go out there and attack the Boston Red Sox the best way we know how.
"I felt like making sure we were all on the same page after the game last night was the most important point for me.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lovullo, Diamondbacks try to shed light on strange Ketel Marte situation
