Just a day ago, Ketel Marte was asked whether he had a message for the Arizona Diamondbacks fans. Trying to hold back his emotions, the second baseman only nodded, indicating ‘No.’ Now that the D-Backs have decided to start him against the Philadelphia Phillies as a DH on Monday, one message did come from his batting practice: kindness.

The lingering frustration since his unannounced absence spilled over into his return to Chase Field on Monday. But Marte’s latest viral moment had nothing to do with any of that. During a bullpen session on Tuesday afternoon, the attention shifted to a grounds crew member and the player checking up on him.

The Diamondbacks are hosting the Phillies for the second game of the series. But before the game, the players were practicing in the bullpen. Marte hit one for a home run. Unfortunately, it landed just beside the field and struck a grounds crew member, focused on prepping the bullpen clay. 

Marte stopped his BP session and rushed towards the bullpen in front of the stands to check on him. Marte’s 113 mph hit struck him in the head, and the crew member fell to the ground. Other staff and players surrounded him while one of the crew members was checking on him. 

He seemed able to get up and found a nearby chair to sit on. Marte entered the enclosed area and waited in anticipation. It was only after the crew member seemed alright that he was relieved.

The duo even had a brief handshake. There has been no official report of any injury.

Grounds crews routinely repair, pack, and water the clay on both the game mound and bullpen mounds before a game. This maintenance often overlaps with early warmups and batting practice. At Chase Field, the bullpens are located just beyond the outfield wall down the foul lines. It has no protective netting.

Hence, there was enough reason for the 32-year-old to feel worried.

This was a vastly different scene from what the 3x MLB All-Star witnessed a night ago.

Marte returned to the Arizona roster after his unexplained absence. As soon as his name was announced before his at-bat, the Chase Field crowd booed him loudly. The fact that one of their biggest stars went AWOL while the team was chasing a Wild Card spot didn’t sit well with them.

Then, after he grounded out within 3 pitches, the boos only got louder. But in his first game back since August 17, he went 1-for-3 on Monday along with a walk and recorded a .250 AVG. In the bottom of the 9th, Marte’s performance almost felt like a storybook ending.

Trailing by one, with Phillies closer Jhoan Duran on the mound, Ryan Waldschmidt hit a one-out infield single. After one out, Corbin Carroll did the same, who is dealing with lower back discomfort, as shared by manager Torey Lovullo. A wild pitch moved Waldschmidt to third, and Gabriel Moreno was at the plate, while Marte was on deck.

All the D’Backs needed was a single by Moreno, putting Marte in a spot to win it for his team. But Moreno grounded out to short, and the game was done.

In his postgame interview, Marte admitted to being a bit nervous returning after two weeks:

“I felt a little strange in my first at-bat, but that’s hopefully going to go away.”

The 2B made sure to talk to his team and “ask for forgiveness.” He did so that reportedly ended happily.

“Thank God they accepted my apology,” Marte shared after Monday’s game.

But the loyalists were disappointed with his gesture from the pre-interview. That even got to a point where he had to explain his pregame moment after the 2-1 loss in the series opener against the Phillies. 

“Going back to the press conference, when the question was made to me, I didn’t really quite understand the word that was used at that moment,” Ketel Marte claimed.

“I’m never going to stop loving my fans, and that’s what I want them to understand.”

It is not that unclear, as Marte was spotted signing jerseys and baseballs for fans, who are clearly happy to see him back.

Manager Tory Lovullo tried to have his back, mentioning how emotional the player is and that fans will surely come to understand Marte as he has been able to. But the scrutiny is still there.

But even after the incident with the crew member went viral, some just claimed it to be a PR stunt. This only proves that fans are yet to move on from his earlier actions. 

The recent controversy carries much bigger weight

It all started when the 2x Silver Slugger didn’t show up at Fenway Park two weeks ago. The D’backs were scheduled to face the Boston Red Sox, and Marte was on the roster. But he ditched his team without any prior communication, and his manager wasn’t even sure if the player was in Boston. 

Later, his agent, Charisse Espinosa-Dash, provided official information and mentioned Marte would be going through an MRI on his knee the next day. The D’backs shifted him from the restricted list to the injured list and scheduled his rehab after the imaging came back. 

But Marte made things worse when images of him sitting at a roulette table at the Talking Stick Resort casino in Scottsdale went viral. Fans started asking why he wasn’t present with his team during the rehab. Some tried to defend him, explaining that it was not mandatory, and he didn’t break any rules by going to a casino. 

In the pregame interview, when asked about this, Marte noted that it was his “personal time.”

Fans have once supported him during his no-show against the St. Louis Cardinals last year. They wanted to have his back again. But his pregame nonverbal communication only infuriated them further. Plus, 2025 or 2026 are not the only years Marte had these no-show incidents.

It happened on September 24, 2023, during a game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In 2024, he went on to pinch-hit in a game to have proper rest and be the best version of himself in the last week of the season.

Yet on Monday. Ketel Marte wasn’t expecting such a welcome. After the game, he finally tried to offer some explanation for his absence. 

“It was a moment of frustration,” the Venezuelan star stated through his interpreter. “I’m the type of person that when something’s going on in my life, I don’t like to talk about it. That morning I woke up, my body was in pain, and I couldn’t react. No one made the decision for me; I’m the one who made the decision not to show up.”

His explanation or the recent gesture toward the crew member may help him win back the support of his fans. At least some comments on Ketel Marte’s interviews say so:

“Support this guy. He’s clearly going through a hard time…,” one fan wrote when Marte had no words for his fans, while some speculated he doesn’t want to be in Arizona anymore. The same kind of reactions followed after his postgame explanation.

While some assured they will keep supporting the “human,” some pointed out how he has been carrying the team for the last 10 seasons. But truth be told, this is not coming from all the fans.

For now, the player and his team will at least aim to win their last game of the series against the Phillies after their 7-1 loss on Tuesday, when Ketel Marte again went 1-for-3, and his AVG stood at .333.

As the baseball world keeps searching for answers regarding the Ketel Marte incident, there was a silent message from the man after Monday’s game, with the fluorescent baseball cap that he wore:

“MAY THE BRIDGES I BURN LIGHT THE WAY.”