Torey Lovullo appeared to be fighting back tears during his postgame presser Monday night, doing his best to maintain composure while dealing with questions he didn’t have all the answers to regarding Diamondbacks star player Ketel Marte not showing up for their game in Boston.
“I just love for him and care for him, he’ll be OK,” Luvullo said after the 11-1 loss to the Red Sox.
There is still plenty of confusion surrounding Marte seemingly going AWOL on his team and it left Lovullo in the difficult spot of trying to explain the situation while walking a fine line.
Arizona completed a three-game set in Atlanta on Sunday and Marte traveled with the team to Boston, but then became difficult to track down.
The manager said Marte is dealing with a “personal issue” that led to the team placing him on the restricted list, and the two communicated “very little” during the morning and afternoon.
Luvullo noted that he had an idea of the situation when he first woke up, and said he believes Marte is still in Boston but he’s not sure if that’s true.
“I just was doing my best to reach out to him,” Lovullo said. “There was very little coming back.”
Arizona gave Marte as much time as possible to report, with the team only announcing on X that Marte had been placed on the restricted list — which does not include pay — roughly 15 minutes before first pitch.
Lovullo noted that this is the first time Marte has not shown up for a game, and The Arizona Republic reported that Marte is physically OK.
Marte landed on the restricted list last year after the All-Star break — as his home was robbed while he was on a trip home to the Dominican Republic. He missed three games and some teammates were reportedly displeased with how he handled the situation.
Whether Marte’s situation affected the team or not, Arizona suffered its worst loss of the second half.
“We deal with a lot as baseball managers and coaches and teachers,” Luvullo said. “Sometimes you get disappointed, sometimes you get let down, but we’re going to figure out how to work through this.”
He added: “The players are gritty, they really around one another. I know there was 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.”
Luvullo did not have answers when asked about what happens moving forward, stressing that he cares for and loves Marte.
Marte, 32, is hitting .249 with 21 homers and 67 RBIs for an Arizona team that sits one game behind the Padres for the final playoff spot in the National League.
It’s unclear what Marte’s status is going forward with the Diamondbacks having two more games in Boston before heading home for a series with the Reds on Friday.
“I haven’t got that far,” Lovullo said, per the Associated Press. “I need a good night’s rest, a glass of wine and we’ll think about that.”
