Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte Could be Back by the Phillies Series

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo gave his daily health updates, and the key feature of the day was the progress of All Star second baseman Ketel Marte.

Marte, who has been on the injured list with a hamstring strain since April 5, played in an extended spring training game against Colorado Rockies minor league. Offensively it was a great step for him, as he hit two home runs and also drove a line drive off the wall. Marte played three innings in the field, and ran the bases, albeit in a jog.

Ketel is feeling it. Second HR of the day and it was a no doubter @Dbacks pic.twitter.com/cIhwcK5syc
— The Welsh (@IsItTheWelsh) April 26, 2025

Asked if Marte could possibly make the road trip with the team to New York where they play the Mets on Tuesday April 29, Lovullo said that would be a little bit too soon. The team wants to be very cautious with their superstar.

"We've got to make sure. We want him back so bad. You [don't want to] start to do desperate things and now you start playing catch up. We want to wait until this is a very thorough rehab. And when he's back, he's back for the whole year" Lovullo said.

Following up that, the natural question was if having him fly out separately to meet the team in Philadelphia to play the Phillies starting next Friday would be too awkward or quick of a turnaround. The team turns around and flys back across country on Sunday night, and will play the Mets again on Monday, May 5 without an off day.

Lovullo joked "Not too awkward for me. It's like a really good idea to me!", as laughter erupted throughout the room.

"I don't know what's going on beyond the New York series, we'll see, hopefully. The travel today and the understanding of nutrition and hydration, our athletes get that jammed down their throat.

"If we've got to fly him out there for three days and fly him back, I'll sign up for that, and we'll make sure that he's in a good spot health-wise."

Once Marte comes back, the question of how he will be used and how much he'll play comes to the forefront. That will at first be determined by the recommendations from the medical and training staff.

"Once a prescription is made [by training staff] and it hits my desk I'm going to follow that pretty closely. I'm sure there's going to be some DH days in there to begin with and just ease him back into it."

Lovullo went on to clarify that most of the DH days would come against left-hand pitching, as when the team is facing a right-hander it's a priority to make sure that Pavin Smith and Josh Naylor are both in the lineup.

Kevin Ginkel (Right Shoulder Inflammation) will throw one more rehab outing with the Reno Aces on Saturday. Following that Lovullo said that he felt Ginkel would be ready by the start of the Mets series on Tuesday to return to the major league club.

Kendall Graveman, (Lower Back Tightness) threw 22 pitches in the same extended sprig training game, facing six batters and striking out three. His fastball velocity was in the 94-95 zone. "Now it's just a matter of building the stamina" Lovullo said.

Lovullo went on to say that Graveman would probably return 10-12 days behind Ginkel, so approximately two weeks from now.