Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte finally graced his team with his presence Monday, returning to the lineup after ghosting the club and leaving fans holding the bag for two weeks. Naturally, the D-backs rewarded his unexcused vacation by plugging him right back into the clean-up spot as the designated hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I’m going to stand in front of my teammates like a man,” Marte said through a translator. “I’m going to ask for forgiveness. We’re human, we all commit mistakes.”
Marte walked away from the club in Boston on Aug. 17 without permission, initially leading to a restricted list placement before the team cited knee inflammation.
Marte admitted the no-show was entirely on him.
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“A moment of frustration,” he explained. “No one made the decision for me, I’m the one that made the decision to not show up.” He added, “I get along really well with Torey, and in that instance I failed him by not showing up,” referring to manager Torey Lovullo.
If that wasn’t wild enough, Lovullo openly stated after Marte’s return that this marks the fourth consecutive season the second baseman has missed a game without team authorization.
If any normal American walked off the job without permission once a year for four straight years, security would escort them out of the building. In Major League Baseball, it just gets you slotted right back into the middle of the order for a playoff push.
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While sidelined on the injured list, videos surfaced of Marte casually playing roulette at Talking Stick Casino in Scottsdale while his teammates were grinding out a home game across town. Pressed on the optics of hitting the gaming tables mid-game, Marte shrugged off the backlash like it was nothing. “I’ve been injured before, those are things that I do in my personal time,” he told reporters.
“I’ve been injured before, those are things that I do in my personal time,” Marte told reporters.
When asked directly if he had any message for the Arizona fans who pay his salary, the D-Backs star offered complete silence and simply shook his head no.
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The Diamondbacks are stuck in a corner.
At 73-65 and fighting for a Wild Card spot, they desperately need Marte’s bat (.249 average, 21 home runs). Locked into a contract through 2031 with full no-trade protection, Marte holds every piece of leverage in the building.
Arizona gets its star back for the stretch run, proving once again that as long as you hit home runs, accountability is completely optional.
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