The Diamondbacks have made a call on Ketel Marte, and it comes after a stretch that left plenty of people around the team looking for answers. According to the New York Post, the star second baseman was placed on the injured list after a face-to-face meeting, following the bizarre no-show that had already put him at the center of the conversation.
What the team is saying now is an injury explanation. The Post reports Marte has an apparent left knee injury, and that he received an injection for left knee inflammation, per MLB.com. The hope, the report says, is that he can return after the minimum 10 days on the injured list. That at least gives the situation a basketball-like outline: a roster move, a medical explanation, and a timeline the club can work with, even if the bigger story still feels unsettled.
Before the injured-list move, Marte had been placed on the restricted list while the Diamondbacks tried to sort out why he didn’t show up to Fenway Park for Monday’s game against the Red Sox, according to the New York Post. Team CEO Derrick Hall described the situation as a “complete mystery” and “bizarre,” which tells you just how unusual this all has felt from the outside.
General manager Mike Hazen, speaking Thursday and quoted by MLB.com, said he wasn’t going to get into specifics, but did say the conversation and meeting were productive. He added that the team discussed the last week and that Marte would talk to his teammates at some point before they go from there.
That’s where things stand for now: a player who was restricted, then moved to the injured list, with the club settling on an injury explanation after a meeting. In a sport where absences usually come with a clean injury report or a clear transaction note, this one has had a little more fog around it than anyone in Arizona would like. For the Diamondbacks, the next step seems less about the paperwork and more about what Marte says to the room when he’s ready.
