Diamondbacks manager gets candid about Ketel Martes status as mystery around absence grows: Gotta get him right

Plenty of confusion still remains surrounding the circumstances with Ketel Marte and the Diamondbacks, and manager Torey Lovullo did little to clear things up on Tuesday ahead of Arizona’s game against the Red Sox. Marte is said to be headed back to Arizona to undergo an MRI exam on his left knee, which the Arizona Republic reported Tuesday, but the Diamondbacks skipper didn’t know if that had anything to do with why he did not show up for Monday’s game. Lovullo told reporters when he met with them before the second of a three-game set with the Red Sox that he was “told” that Marte had gone back to Phoenix to get testing done on his let knee, but also added, “I don’t know that for sure.” Marte’s absence on Monday prompted the Diamondbacks to put him on the restricted list for what the team had said was a “personal issue.” Lovullo said he had not spoken to Marte on Tuesday, though he has tried to, and said that he was a “little bit” surprised that Marte hasn’t made contact with him. “He and I have a very strong relationship, maybe like a father/son relationship,” he said.“That explains how much he’s hurting right now.

I just want to be available to him.He knows I’m available.

When he’s ready, he’ll reach out.”Marte had come out of a game against the Braves over the weekend in Atlanta because of soreness in his left knee, but returned to the lineup on Sunday and traveled to Boston with the rest of his team.  Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo told the Arizona Republic that he didn’t have any insight into what’s been going on with Marte. “The only text message I sent to him was asking about his knee,” he told the outlet.“I don’t want to bother him with [all that other stuff]; I just wanted to see if his knee is OK.”Marte is a three-time MLB All-Star and has been hitting .249 with 21 home runs and 67 RBIs this season for Arizona. Lovullo said he hoped the Diamondbacks would be getting Marte back at...