The Diamondbacks announced a series of roster moves today, including the selection of right-hander Trevor Richards and the recall of catcher Adrian Del Castillo, moves which were reported earlier. They also signed infielder Sergio Alcántara to a major league deal. Right-hander Juan Morillo was optioned during the break, opening one active roster spot. Today, infielder Tristin English was optioned to the minors and second baseman Ketel Marte was placed on the restricted list. Marte opened one 40-man spot for Alcántara. To open another for Richards, catcher Gabriel Moreno was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix, Marte is “taking some personal days.” Bob Nightengale of USA Today relays that Marte’s home was burglarized while he was away for the All-Star break. Perhaps Marte will be back in just a few days. Regardless, it’s less than ideal for the Diamondbacks, given that their season feels like it’s hanging by a thread at the moment.
The Snakes have been bit really hard by the injury bug this year. They have 11 pitchers on the injured list, many of whom won’t be returning this season due to significant surgeries. Naturally, that has impacted their ability to win ball games. They are currently 47-50 and 5.5 games back of a playoff spot. General manager Mike Hazen has said he would like the team to play its way into buyer position but it has felt like they might be drifting towards sell mode. Losing Marte for any amount of time doesn’t help, given that he’s one of the best all-around players in the game.
Blaze Alexander is perhaps the favorite to take over at the keystone in the interim but Alcántara will give them a fresh body on the roster. He got into one game with the Giants this year, going hitless in four at-bats. He has otherwise been in Triple-A, producing a tepid line of .206/.319/.252. He shouldn’t be expected to provide much with the bat but can play the three infield spots to the left of first base.
Moreno’s transfer to the 60-day IL is also less than ideal for the D’Backs. He was placed on the 10-day IL June 20th due to a hairline fracture in his right index finger. This transfer means the club doesn’t expect him to be able to return in the next month or so. They have been using José Herrera and James McCann behind the plate but will now go with a three-catcher setup. Del Castillo has great minor league numbers on a rate basis but has only played 14 Triple-A games this year due to injuries. He was reinstated from the minor league IL on July 1st.
Now that he’s healthy, perhaps he’ll get a chance to get some big league playing time while Moreno isn’t a near-term option. Del Castillo hit .313/.368/.525 in his major league debut last year. He’s hitting .288/.386/.559 in Triple-A this year but, as mentioned, in a fairly limited sample. Herrera’s line this year is just .197/.302/.268. McCann has a monster .375/.516/.708 line but in just nine games, as he was just added to the roster recently. He slashed .224/.279/.352 over the previous four seasons.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images
It was reported that Marte’s house was robbed in recent days. I imagine that’s why the D-Backs placed him on the restricted list.
Poor guy can’t catch a break. Best wishes to him as he recovers mentally from all he’s been through recently.
The fan incident didn’t do well to bolster his image, and a burglary is the last thing he needed…
What do you mean the fan incident “didn’t do well to bolster his image”?? That fan’s behavior was the problem, not how Marte responded to it.
These athletes are human beings also…
What does a fan yelling insensitive stuff at Marte have to do with his image exactly ?
He did break down in tears over it. As wrong as the fan was Marte let some random unknown guy shouting mean things at him break him down. Like it or not, but that is a reflection of his image.
Oh so you are one of those guys that looks down on someone when they cry? Lame. Just because you are too afraid to show those emotions, don’t project onto someone else.
“Breaking down in tears” over your deceased mother is now shameful? My oh my. I feel bad for you. Honestly.
Anonymous poster rips MLB player for not being brave.
I’ve been on these boards for a long time and this probably takes the cake for dumbest thing I’ve read. Congrats 29braves
You’re right- it reflects his grief, empathy, and humanity. Your post reflects your lack of the latter two.
A+++ post, chops23.
It’s called sociopathy. It’s on the rise in American “culture”.
This world has become so soft if you all think giving in to exactly what the heckler wanted by breaking down in tears was the correct response.
No one is saying what the heckler did wasn’t messed up. The guy deserves a beating. But what exactly do you think the heckler is after? That’s exactly what he wanted and Ketel gave it to him. Imagine applauding that response.
I genuinely feel bad for Ketel that he let the heckler break him like that but that is NOT what he should have done. It’s completely the opposite by giving the heckler the power he never deserved.
Like it or not, your image is that of an idiot.
>This world has become so soft
Are you against vaccines? Because I think you need the one for rabies.
The world need more softness, not less. In softness you have real strength, but you will never understand that.
Against vaccines? Imagine having no valid response so you randomly start bringing up vaccines.
So you believe the appropriate response to someone heckling you is to break down into tears? Because that’s what you’re saying right now. And I’m the idiot…. that’s rich.
Let me know more about the random pivot to vaccines though since you’re more shook coming up with a thoughtful response with how to handle someone saying mean things than Marte himself. Probably crying into your keyboard as you type because of my posts on here.
No I’m sorry but that’s wishy washy fairy tale nonsense. There are absolutely moments you need to show strength and not break down.
For example, do you want the police to break down in tears in a hostage negotiation if they start throwing personal attacks at your rescuers while you are one of their hostages.
I mean according to you we need more softness and breaking down in tears is acceptable to do. You get my point yet?
So I’m sorry but it’s time some of you return to the real world and recognize there’s a right time to get emotional and a wrong time. At the very least we can all be thankful Marte’s job doesn’t actually involve any real high stakes because he would crack if he was.
The reality is you need people like me who aren’t soft to create a world that allows you to crumble without much consequence when someone does say something mean to you.
It’s baffling you think Marte crying from getting heckled is a sign of strength and humanity. It’s one thing to feel bad that he broke down, I feel bad for him that it broke him to. But it’s another thing to prop that up and applaud it. No offense but there’s nothing strong about how he handled that situation. The strong thing would be to ignore the heckler and that’s the type of strength some of you are clearly incapable of grasping.
I feel sorry for you. I wish you nothing but peace and happiness.
Great example. Ketel Marte / Negotiator vs drunk baseball fan / Criminal taking hostages.
Those situations are so alike.
My guess is that Marte is taking the leave because his house was broken into over the All-Star break, and he’s spending time with his family.
Read the writing on the wall, AZ.
Ketle Marte’s Arizona home reportedly was burglarized while he and his family were at the All Star Game in Atlanta.
arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/ketel-m…
If that’s true, it’s sad, but 99% of the burglarized population still has to go to work when they are victims of burglaries. And many of them cannot afford to replace their stolen items.
Still is incredibly stressful. Don’t judge. Same thing happened to Julio Rodriguez. They said the stress from all of it and the investigation and process is why he took the All Star game off. They’re human beings too.
I’m not judging. Where did I judge him? It was an observation of how fortunate he is, and an observation that despite the circumstances he’s still got significant advantages over most of the victim population.
Julio home was robbed May 1 but it is possible that helped sway his desicion to take time off. His wife was at home and barricaded herself in bedroom. Robberies by group targeting athletes. Julio, Castillo, Blake Snell and Richard Sherman. Good news they were caught!
Odd observation.
I’d like to think a decent employer would give somebody a day or two for something like this if they could
Yeah, I agree…. If they could. Many won’t or can’t because of the employee’s responsibility.
To be fair, a day or two was Wednesday and Thursday given this happened on Tuesday. It does beg to question how long Ketel is mentally shaken from being robbed. Is he planning to skip out the whole weekend? I do emphasize over being robbed but asking for time off now 3 days after the fact is worth questioning a bit. The weekend series is even at home in Arizona so it’s not like he’s away from home. What more can really be done at this point? It’s not like he’s going to get robbed again this weekend, they already took his stuff. No one is doubling down on robbing him again so soon.
Some people just believe that life is more important than a baseball game. And I’m one of them.
The part that bothers me is that this is a “must win” series. I’d like to think that a guy of Marte’s talent would prefer to be with the team to help them win. If you have watched the Dbacks consistently this year and last, there is a softness to his game that I personally find off putting. I’ve never seen a player ask for days off like this guy. And for odd reasons like general stiffness or fatigue. And in important games. He asked for a day off because of fatigue last year in the last week of the season while the team was out of a playoff spot by one game.
Marte is also one of the reasons why the Diamondbacks are still not entirely out. If the Diamondbacks miss out of a playoff spot, just like last year, it won’t be because of Marte (or any other batter) missing one or two games. This is as much a “must win” series as the one where they got swept by the Marlins.
lol what clip?
You’re telling me 99% of the population can’t take 2-3 days off to get sorted? A normal job you can just take a few vaca or personal days and not even have to mention the reason.
I said 99% of the burglary victims, not the population. Many jobs will not give days off for your items getting stolen. 2-3 days off? Doubt it.
But my point was not judging him, it’s observing he’s in a tough spot, but not nearly as tough as a large majority of the victims in our population.
I’m with you. I seriously doubt most people would need 3 days off to sort things out. And we’re assuming tonight is the only night he misses which I honestly wonder about if they actually put him on the restrictive list. Tomorrow becomes 4 days, Sunday 5 days. Seems bizarre to me. Just because something bad happens in your life doesn’t mean it’s an excuse to check out on the rest of your responsibilities. I doubt there’s anything he’s actually doing tonight preventing him from playing 3 days after the fact. More likely he just doesn’t feel like it and I know that won’t bother some people but it’s the wrong response in my opinion.
99% is pretty close to all.
Yeah, there are some cases depending on the job. But I think the Dbacks can use a backup for a few days.
Let’s respect the guy’s space a few days. We don’t know the details. Maybe he hasn’t been able to sleep yet. We don’t know much
Most jobs give you days off to use at your discretion, I don’t understand the argument at all.
2029Braves If Marte wants to take extra days off from a distressful personal event, he can. I think it’s bizarre that you’re judging him based on the amount of unpaid days he wants off. He gets back on the horse when he wants to and has earned that right.
Clipper is begggggggggging for attention. This has reached comedic proportions.
You’re an idiot, Boston. If anyone is begging for attention it’s the guy taking offense to a generic statement that doesn’t insult anyone, ie YOU. Stop trying to bait… it wreaks of desperation.
Ok, if Ketel wants to take the rest of this season off to deal with this personal situation I’m willing to bet everyone in these comments would question and judge that request.
All that’s happening here is myself and Clipper think 3 days off is more than enough time to have handled it. At this point the only thing we are doing is disagreeing on how much time is acceptable. Unless some of you believe he should really have as much time as he needs meaning if he wanted the whole season you wouldn’t be judging that.
To me it’s the rest of you up on your high horse saying myself and clipper are judging him. You know full well there’s a point in time where you also think it’s unnecessary for him to be away for this event so let’s not pretend you’re any different than Clipper and myself. The days you’re just willing to permit him to have is simply longer than what clipper and I feel are necessary to handle this and get back to it.
That is the hard truth. The only question is how much time do you think is ok for him to miss for this? In b4 a bunch of responses saying it’s not for you to decide. In that case maybe Ketel should retire over this situation and see if everyone still refrains from judging how much time he needs to deal with it.
The only hard truth you’re failing to understand is that Marte is exercising his earned contractual rights. His reasons for missing time don’t matter. Keep in mind that both Yu Darvish, Ben Zobrist, and many others also missed a lot of games to attend to their own personal matters. But you keep double-downing on being wrong and make yourself sound ridiculous.
Well one, there’s no right or wrong here. Just opinions. So let’s get that straight.
Second, I never said he doesn’t have a right to exercise a request to attend personal matters.
Third, you’re missing the point that I have every right to evaluate or “judge” how long I think someone needs to address the personal situation of a robbery.
Fourth, a lot of you are assuming no one in here has been robbed. I actually have been robbed. In college my apartment got robbed. I dealt with it and the next day went to my classes. I didn’t get extensions on my work or tests. Could I have asked and could I have been given those things? Maybe but I didn’t feel it was necessary.
So now that we’ve cleared all of that up, have you been robbed before? I’ve at least got some perspective so I’d love to know your experience that validates your opinion as “right” which is laughable since this isn’t a right or wrong discussion at all. Just simply a discussion of opinions for how much time one really needs to attend to this type of personal situation.
Imagine thinking there’s right and wrong to this situation though. No wonder you’re lost in the conversation.
Have a great day bro
Also not that it’s relevant to this discussion at all but Darvish and Zobrist are terrible comparisons.
Darvish went on leave because his brother was battling cancer….. a lengthy extended process
Zobrist went on leave because he was working through a divorce….. also a lengthy extended process
Getting robbed isn’t a lengthy extended process. You deal with it and move on with life. And let me reiterate I’ve been robbed so I do in fact know the steps which most of you are probably clueless about. There’s nothing that left me impaired or tasks that I needed to complete 3+ days after the incident.
It really shows how you’re incapable of any critical thinking to cite Darvish and Zobrist as examples to support Marte taking time off.
These things aren;’t equal in the slightest. Would you not expect someone supporting a brother going through cancer to need more time away than someone who got robbed? Or are your critical thinking skills so low that they should require the equivalent time away to handle?
I guess see you in 10 weeks if your team is still playing Ketel since Darvish and Zobrist were out multiple months.
LOL at bringing either of those up as examples. So many of you cry guys take too long coming back from an injury but get upset when someone says there’s no reason to need 3+ days to deal with a robbery. Apparently its cool for you all to judge players health and recovery but THIS is off limits… glad I know the rules now
Lol. Keep moving the goalpost, man. You too!
That’s harsh. What about if the house is trashed and the home keeper is as rattled as fark. Just go off to work and leave it with her ? It’s a hard core employer that doesn’t give the man some time.
Okay, that’s all speculation and doesn’t change the fact many cannot take off work. I didn’t say they *shouldnt* give days off. Just that many don’t.
I also never said it was because the employer. I just said they can’t take off work. That may also be because they cannot afford it, don’t have the time off, etc.
It is. Educated speculation. I doubt he has asked for time off if they broke into his garden shed and stole the lawnmower. Common sense, Clip.
Doesn’t change the fact many don’t have the days off. I don’t understand what you are arguing. I said many people cannot take time off for this. You’re saying he deserves time off for this. Neither argument is mutually exclusive. It doesn’t matter how …..burglarized his house was. None of it changes the observable fact many people cannot take off work for several days.
I’m sorry, I don’t get the defensiveness over this.
Fair enough. I struggle with the concept that 99% of burglary victims can’t get a day off after a home invasion type burglary !
Like I said, so harsh. You people have a lot of richards managing people.
I wish you a better work environment clip, you are worth more than that
Freddie, you’re a heck of a guy. I appreciate the kind words. I’m fortunately not in that type of environment. I used to be because of my positional responsibilities, but I know and interact with many who are in that very position. It sucks.
I feel for Ketel. It’s shameful someone invaded the privacy of his home in that way.
Ok, but when does being rattled go away? How long is it before it’s not acceptable?
It’s not like this happened last night. All the logistics have been handled by now going on day 3 of things. Is he just never going to leave his house again? That’s the whole point. There’s no point “being rattled” should have you still hiding in your house 3 days later. Not to mention who is dumb enough to rob him again after he already got robbed and had his stuff taken. There’s nothing left to steal, or at least fewer things. At this moment he’s about as least likely to get robbed as he ever will be in life.
How about when the mother of your 5 kids says “Thanks Honey,
Really appreciate you stepping up and staying with us, but you probably should get back to work. I’m good”
FFS. NFI.
Wow way to assume the woman is the one shaken up you sexist pig
Sure thing tough guy. You really think that sexist pig take works ?
She is the mother of 5 kids. He is 31 so they would all be young. Living in that house with them while Dad is off somewhere playing baseball.
The law of averages strongly suggests she would be rattled if home got compromised. There is no decent man on Earth leaving her there until she is comfortable and feels secure.
Lay off of Marte!! He just needs to go to his safe space! Poor baby.
Maybe he should use a small amount of that 14 million to get a good security system on his place?
Most people could take some vacation time and get things taken care of. His vacation time is in the winter.
Buck up, cupcake.
Too bad your parents didn’t teach you to treat your superiors with respect. Dude is better than you in every way imaginable. But I guess that’s why you lash out like a baby.
Have you considered shutting up for the rest of your miserable life?
Your mom should’ve swallowed
Underrated post. His mom lacked “technique”.
“Buck up cupcake”? Who never gave you the space to feel humanity and empathy? I’m sorry you weren’t give that. You deserve it.
Two more insensitive posters fall by the wayside.
El Kabong: you say I’m insensitive for saying a majority of people can’t take off work for multiple days Wow, that was a statement about how hard it is for everyday working Americans, not throwing shade at Marte.
It’s incredible the flack one takes for making such a generic sympathetic statement about normal, everyday crime victims in America. Talk about people being insensitive…..
I read your comment about Marte as critical of him for taking the time off, so it doesn’t surprise me that others read it that way as well.
I take your point, man, but you’ve chosen a very strange hill to die on here.
Well, I get that. Appreciate the honest feedback. It just took me back that so many took offense when I had no intention of it reading as an off-handed comment. You’re right though, I give up trying to clarify myself for random people looking for a fight.
Some guys just need to feel better about themselves.
First hearing his mom getting taunted, and then his home getting robbed, poor Ketel can’t catch a break.
He got a contract extension not long ago. Ken gave his underrated superstar some more money and more years.