If and when Ketel Marte returns to the Arizona Diamondbacks from the injured list, he will apparently have some work to do to regain the trust and support of manager Torey Lovullo after his unexplained absence from the team earlier in the week.
The second baseman was placed on the 10-day IL on Thursday with left knee inflammation. But before that move was made, the D-Backs put the three-time All-Star on the restricted list when he didn’t show up for Monday’s game versus the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
“I was hurt, I was clearly hurt,” Lovullo told reporters on Friday, via Griffin S. DeMarrais. “Once I saw what was unfolding, I became extremely frustrated. I felt betrayed.”
Marte’s absence was explained as a personal issue, but he returned to Arizona on Tuesday to undergo an MRI on his left knee. But it still wasn’t clear if the knee soreness was the reason for his absence.
General manager Mike Hazen and team president Derrick Hall met with Marte on Thursday, but still apparently received few answers as to what led to his behavior. Hall said the team was withholding judgment on the situation until they received more clarification as to what was happening.
Lovullo still wasn’t certain of anything when he spoke on Friday, though he did express sympathy for what elite athletes endure during competition in terms of their mental health.
“There are human emotions tied into these athletes all over the world,” he added. “It’s not easy. So I don’t know what happened on that day.”
Lovullo then referred to Marte scrubbing his Instagram account of all D-Backs related content on July 26, often an indication that a player is unhappy with his situation and would prefer to move on to a new situation.
“I don’t even know what ‘scrubbing’ means,” he continued. “I’m not on social media, I’m 61 years old. My kids call me a boomer. And I’m a baseball manager. I am going to stay in my lane and do what I do best instead of speculate as to what happened on that day.”
Lovullo emphasized that he’s worked through the frustrations he felt from Marte’s no-show and is ready to move on. But that won’t happen until Marte speaks to his manager, the team’s upper management and his fellow players who are also left to wonder why their teammate left them with no explanation.
The drama with Marte is occurring amid the Diamondbacks competing for a postseason berth, just one game back from the National League’s third wild-card playoff spot. Marte has a .249/.314/.446 slash average and leads the team with 21 home runs and 67 RBI.
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