10 hours ago
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Ketel Marte and the Arizona Diamondbacks are apparently just fine.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo defended his star player Tuesday, days after reports surfaced claiming that Marte was causing issues in Arizona’s clubhouse. According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, Marte "continues to frustrate segments of the organization by opting to take days off."
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That, Lovullo said Tuesday, was false.
"I can wholeheartedly tell you that Ketel has been an unbelievable player for the Arizona Diamondbacks for a long period of time," Lovullo said, via the Arizona Republic. "There are days off that are needed, they're fairly scripted and we ask for his input. When the athlete gives us input, we're going to listen.
"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."
Marte is in his 10th season with the Diamondbacks this summer. He holds a .249 batting average with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs this season while coming off back-to-back All-Star campaigns. He had three hits and three RBIs in the team's 10-6 loss to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, which dropped the D’backs to 34-32 on the season. So far this season, Marte has sat out only four games.
He ran into issues with taking time off last season, however, and apologized to the team after he flew home to the Dominican Republic after the All-Star break. He missed three games then, and said he was "frustrated" and "in a bad spot" after learning that his Arizona home had been burglarized.
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But that, Lovullo said, is not happening inside his organization this season — and it's something he wanted to get ahead of.
"He's going to help us win baseball games. He's going to help us get to where we want to," Lovullo said. "It's just one of those things where it's spinning away from us, and I want to make sure I address it and defend the player, because I believe in the player and I know the player."
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