Following a mysterious absence and injury stint, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced that Ketel Marte will return in game one against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have been without Ketel Marte since Sunday, Aug. 16, in one of the wildest stories of the season.
While he officially went on the 10-day Injured List for a knee injury, rumors were swirling around Marte's absence as he simply failed to show up to their series against the Boston Red Sox.
Fans were left with far more questions than answers, but a brief rehab stint has now allowed the 32-year-old to return to the lineup on the final day of August.
With the D-backs set to begin a three game slate against the Philadelphia Phillies, the current No. 2 team in the National League Wild Card race, Arizona couldn't have asked for a better time to get Marte back in the lineup.
Marte will serve as designated hitter and bat fourth
AZ Sports' Alex Weiner was first on the news that Marte was officially back in the Diamondbacks lineup on Monday, Aug. 31.
In order to combat Aaron Nola and the Phillies, Arizona has come up with a lineup that they believe is best suited around Marte's return.
Remember, Marte is hitting .249 this season, and he had three straight multi-hit games from Aug. 10-12.
His 1.9 WAR is incredibly down from the 4.4 it was a year ago, and more specifically, the 6.8 it was back in 2024. Marte's struggles haven't exactly been a secret this season, but he's also had hot streaks where it looks like he's one of the best players in all of baseball.
Marte will appear in his 119th game of the season which is seven shy of what he played in 2025. He's currently slashing .249/.314/.446 with a .760 OPS. To no surprise, all of those numbers are the lowest they've been in quite some time.
Which version of Marte will the D-backs get in his return?
Batting cleanup allows Marte to try and drive in some early runs, depending on if the hitters before him do their job. In game one of the Phillies series, it'll be Geraldo Perdomo, Corbin Carroll, and Gabriel Moreno ahead of Marte.
Previously, Marte had been a mainstay as the leadoff hitter in the D-backs lineup. That's moved around from time to time, but his 362 at-bats when batting first is quite a large sample size compared to his 70 at-bats this season when batting fourth.
It's also worth noting Marte has a .262 batting average when batting leadoff compared to his .200 average at the cleanup spot.
