Ketel Marte’s sudden absence explained as Diamondbacks place him on restricted list

The Arizona Diamondbacks placed All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte on the restricted list after he failed to show up for Monday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox.

Manager Torey Lovullu stated that Marte was dealing with a personal issue, noting that communication with Marte was minimal despite trying to reach him multiple times on Monday.

Lovullo told reporters after the Diamondbacks' 11-1 loss, "It's been a crazy day. All I know is that he's dealing with a personal issue; we're just trying to figure that out. He didn't show up today, and he was put on the restricted list. That's as much as I know right now. I'm sure in time, we'll start to uncover some information."

According to Lovullo, he spoke to Marte on Monday morning and afternoon and inquired about what’s going on with him but I did not get any concrete answers.

This marks Marte's second straight season going AWOL; last season, he went on the restricted list and missed three games after his Arizona home was broken into during the All-Star break.

"I know there were a lot of discussions about it at different points of time in the clubhouse today. There was a lot of curiosity. We care for Ketel, and once we knew he was OK, I think everybody relaxed and started to focus on the game,” Lovullo said.

Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks right fielder, also addressed the absence of Kete Martel. In an interview, he said, “It was a chaotic pregame, waiting on Nolan’s status, but also Ketel’s status. You could definitely sum it up as a weird day, with a couple of things in motion. But I thought the coaches did a good job of handling it and making sure we were prepared.”

Speaking about the Marte, Carroll said, “We had a little text exchange, but nothing too crazy. I’m still not sure of all the details of what he’s dealing with or why he’s on the restricted list right now. I’m just going to see how it plays out, I guess.”