The Arizona Diamondbacks placed second baseman Ketel Marte on the restricted list Monday night after he did not show up at Fenway Park for the team’s series opener at the Boston Red Sox.
According to the Arizona Republic, Marte traveled with the team from Atlanta, the site of their previous series, to Boston. But the three-time All-Star did not arrive at the park as expected on Monday.
That caused the Diamondbacks to delay releasing their starting lineup till mere minutes before first pitch. Ildemaro Vargas, who has split time between first and second base this season, started the game at second and Tim Tawa was Arizona’s first baseman.
The D-backs also recalled infielder Jose Fernandez from Triple-A Reno in a corresponding roster move. It wasn’t clear how soon Fernandez could be in Boston for the series, as Reno was scheduled to begin a home series Tuesday.
Marte, 32, has been the subject of odd absences before. His home in Arizona was robbed the night of the 2025 All-Star Game, and he chose to travel to his native Dominican Republic in the aftermath, missing the Diamondbacks’ first three games after the All-Star break. He apologized for his decision to leave the team following a report that some teammates were unhappy with him.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo defended Marte in June of this year amid reports that Marte continued to take days off and was frustrating members of the organization.
“There are days off that are needed. They’re fairly scripted. … But there’s this underlying theme that he’s not a good teammate and it’s pulling at the fabric of the clubhouse chemistry, which is not true at all,” Lovullo said then. “What I ask that stops is that theme that something is wrong in our clubhouse or something isn’t right in our clubhouse because of Ketel Marte. That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
