The Arizona Diamondbacks made a quick announcement on All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte just minutes before their game against their division rival, the San Diego Padres.
Diamondbacks Make Ketel Marte Announcement Before Game vs. Padres originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
As the new week begins, the Arizona Diamondbacks head to San Diego to take on the Padres in a four-game series.
Arizona will be without All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte in the season opener after the team decided to scratch him from the batting lineup just minutes before the first pitch.
Ketel Marte was scratched from the lineup vs. the Padres tonight pic.twitter.com/VNrLaix7zp
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 8, 2025
The reason behind Marte being scratched from Monday's lineup hasn't been announced, but there's speculation that it stemmed from a play he made at second base during Sunday's game against the Kansas City Royals.
After lunging for a throw from third, he appeared to have tweaked something in his lower body.
Here’s the clip. It’s not on the broadcast but Ketel Marte did a few more leg kicks right after this, so maybe he’s just sore?
— 🌵 Mr. Az (@MrAzSports) July 8, 2025
Didn’t think anything more of it till now that he got scratched from the lineup. https://t.co/E7Ritjvzvepic.twitter.com/jY0QyLAlfb
The Diamondbacks will start 26-year-old Blaze Alexander in replace of Ketel Marte at second base in just his fourth appearance of the season for Arizona.
Through nine at-bats in 2025, Alexander has a .111 BA, .273 OBP, .111 SLG, and a .384 OPS.
Arizona will be without one of their lead men in Marte, and his .293 BA, .396 OBP, .586 SLG, and .982 OPS.
It will be a battle of former Cy Young Award winners as the Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen faces Yu Darvish, who is making his season debut for the Padres.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have been trying to stay alive in an NL West division full of some of the best teams in the MLB.
Entering Monday's matchup, Arizona sits 11.5 games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, while San Diego trails by seven. Both teams will be looking to close the gap and improve their positions in the standings.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Baseball
