DENVER -- D-backs manager Torey Lovullo was asked prior to Friday’s game against the Rockies at Coors Field about an Arizona Republic report stating that “teammates and others in the organization have quietly grumbled about [Ketel Marte's] propensity to ask for days off.”
When asked whether he thought he might need to address the situation with the team, Lovullo said that he doesn’t at this time.
“I take the temperature of that a lot,” Lovullo said. “I spend a lot of time managing up, managing down. And it is what it is. It’s somebody’s opinion as to what’s going on. I don’t think there’s a lot of facts.
“There’s nothing to it that is deeper than the opinion. So if it gets to a different level, I’ll get a good feel for that. I could, perhaps, but for right now, I just want to go out and win a baseball game.”
Marte, a three-time All-Star and the MVP of the 2023 National League Championship Series, most recently missed three games when he stepped away from the club after his home was burglarized.
Overall, the 31-year-old second baseman has played in 90 of the team’s 123 games so far this season, though some of the time he missed was due to hamstring and groin injuries.
“I always evaluate and watch him when he’s on the field,” Lovullo said. “And what he’s been doing on the field has been elite over the past several games. We all know what he’s capable of doing, as far as his readiness -- his premium readiness. I know he spent time in the training room and he’s on a schedule, and it’s a very, very specific schedule to get him ready to play.
“It’s a body that has logged a lot of innings. He’s very strong and he’s very athletic. So I know that he has a very good rhythm and method of taking care of his body, getting himself out there.”
Lovullo said that given where the D-backs are playing this weekend -- in the high altitude of Denver -- he plans to give Marte a day off during the series after he played in the first two games.
“He’s come up here twice in years past, before we knew how to manage it, and he’s gotten injured and missed time,” Lovullo said. “As good as we’re playing right now, as important as he is on this team, we can’t take on another injury. So, yes, he’ll have a day off. Whether it’s tomorrow or the next day, I’ll have a small discussion with him just to see how he feels.
“And that’s really what we do from time to time -- we check in and ask him how he’s doing.”