PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - BREAKING: Ketel Marte MISSES Red Sox Game, Placed on RESTRICTED LIST

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

The Arizona Diamondbacks were blown out in Boston on Monday, losing the series opener to the Red Sox 11-1. But the bigger story is Ketel Marte was placed on the restricted list prior to the game for an unknown reason. We have more on this developing situation, including updates from Boston and Torey Lovullo’s emotional comments following the game. JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4 An ALLCITY Network Production SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/ Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX15 at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order! Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visit https://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotes Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 40% 2+ pairs of off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people. Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you! When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We have a developing situation with Catelle Marte missing the Arizona Diamondbacks game tonight in Boston against the Red Sox. And we have the latest on the very little that is known about what is going on with Marte. Don't you go anywhere we are starting right now. Well, welcome in to you all. This is the PHNX Diamondback show. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. And we are going live here to discuss this breaking news about Ketel. Marte missing tonight's baseball game.

The Diamondbacks absolutely got Mollywopped here by the Boston Red Sox in the series opener. And I don't even want to address that game. But we are going to and we have to. We have to address the impact of Cotel Marte's sudden absence on his teammates in a very important series here in Boston. I am not alone. I got my guy, my dog, your dog, Damon dog here with me.

And he is equally as confused as I am. think the first thing that we have to say is that no matter what the hope here is that Cotel Marte is okay, is that whatever is going on here is not a serious situation. And again, if it's obviously a personal matter that not much is known about, but Tori Willa Volo was very emotional about it afterwards, saying time and time again that he loved Katel and he supported him. But it seemed like Tori also knew very little about the reason why Marte missed today's game. Yeah, I mean, it feels like no one really has a good grasp of what's going on with

Katel right now. And I mean, it kind of makes it where it's tough to formulate thoughts a little bit when you're when you have a microphone in front of your face. Like I don't know, I don't really know if it's again, like we're talking about Derek, it might be a really serious situation. It might be. A personal matter that, you know, I think would be understandable for a lot of people potentially, that, you know, their work life would be impacted by something that happens with a family member potentially. Or hopefully that did not happen.

And it's just kind of a blow up here. But again, that would also not necessarily be cool. So it feels like it's a double-edged sword in a way. Like there's not really a good answer here. But it's obviously bad. Hopefully everybody's okay in the situation, I think, first and foremost. Here's what we do know. We know that Nolan Arnado suffered an injury in Sunday's game,

and he was going to have an MRI in Boston today. We know that the Diamondbacks did. He was out on the field. The reports seemed like Nolan Arnado had a bat in his hand, and he might be okay to play in tonight's game. But then what we get is not only a good, I guess, roster update, Damon, about Justin Martinez and Jordan Lawler being reinstated from their IL stints. But then very close to the start of the game, we get notification that Jose

Fernandez has been recalled from AAA Reno and Cotel Marte has been placed on the restricted list. This happened roughly 15 minutes before the start of the game, maybe a little bit, maybe a little bit longer, maybe 20 minutes. But as Nick Picoro reported from a tweet of his, it was the closest he had ever seen the Diamondbacks wait until the start of the game to put up their starting lineup card. That's a guy who's been there for a couple lineup cards, Derek. He's seen a lot of games that Nick Bacoro, right? So what then happens is that the Diamondbacks, you know, or we start hearing bits and pieces

about this because obviously we as fans don't know. We don't know what's going on with Cattell and what the extent of him. being placed on the restricted list is. According to MLB's website, the restricted list is usually used for personal issues. There's a number of personal issues that you can be put on the restricted list for. It can also be used due to travel and visa issues, which obviously this wasn't that. But again, travel issues may have been the reason. That wasn't the case.

Not only did we see an Instagram post from Ketel from what was yesterday, right? It was, was it yesterday or was it this morning that he posted that, uh, posting him getting to Boston last night. So he arrived in Boston yesterday. He arrived with the team, uh, all for, for all the reports were that Kattel was okay, that he was in Boston and that essentially the move to the restricted list meant that he missed the game is what Nick and Steve Gilbert from MLB.com were both reporting.

It seemed odd, and I kind of looked at it just from the perspective of, well, the Diamondbacks had Jose Fernandez in Boston for the purpose of if Nolan Aronado needed to be put on the IL, they had a third basement. So he was there. He was available. He was scratched from last night's game for the Reno Aces. So he is available. And based on Cattel missing the game or whatever this situation is, I thought, well, they just used the rest of. restricted list kind of situation to get Jose Fernandez on the roster so that he could play in this game and then Kutel could be removed, you know, from the restricted list and we can press on. I almost was wondering once again if it was just more about some sort of weird travel hiccup in some way.

Then after the game and when we hear from Tori, it sounds like it's far more serious than that, if I'm being honest. like I said, Tori was very emotional. And he said several things that, again, were just kind of, I don't know, eye-opening, as far as the situation is concerned. The very first thing he said was, all I know is he's dealing with a personal issue. We're trying to figure that out. And he didn't show up today. And he was put on the restricted list. That's as much as I know right now.

That's how Tori started his post-game press conference, Damon. That does not give me anything. That does not give me any confidence at all about this situation, right? Like it actually with between the things Tori was saying and the emotions on his face, I found myself becoming more and more worried as that postgame press conference went on. A post game press conference that ended with Tori saying he needed a glass of wine. And yeah, after getting your ass kicked 11 to 1 and having your All-Star second baseman and miss the game because of personal issues,

you probably need two glasses of wine tonight. I mean, I was concerned from the jump. It sounded like a bad situation. The moment I heard it sounded like, you know, he didn't report. And I was thinking, you know, first off, I hope he's safe.

I hope he's fine. I was glad to see that Nick Bacoro tweet that said that Catell himself is fine. But then you immediately go to, I think, family situations. And we know Cotel is, you know,

kind of an emotional guy and he doesn't deal with, you know, some of that stuff, I guess the same way that maybe some other players have with similar situations. So, you know, I guess that that would be what my mind goes to. But again, you hate to like kind of speculate super hard on a situation like this because you don't know how serious it potentially could be and it could be pretty bad. Right. It could be bad as far as a personal issue for Ketel, as far as a mental health issue possibly. Yeah. We've experienced that with players in this organization before. We also know that, you know,

Cattell does have an expansive family that he is very close with. And, you know, it's obviously a hope that everybody in his family, everybody, you know, in his life is okay. But again, it's more of, I think, the mystery. I think first, one of the things that shed a bigger light on this was him being put on the restricted list. That immediately caused so many parties to want to know why. Why was he put on the restricted list?

If this was just a day... Right, and if there was just a day where I don't feel like they needed that extra minor leaguer like they did with Jose Fernandez to come in without having to put Nolan Aronado on the IL, I felt like it just made sense from that perspective, right?

But, I mean, now it feels like it's not just that simple. It's not as simple as a travel issue. It's not as simple as, you know, something like that. Tori after the game probably said some things he shouldn't have said, just as far as causing some worry. I think the biggest thing was when he was asked if Catell was still in Boston, his response was, I believe so, I'm not sure. Not just that, but he sounded like he had been in very little contact with Catell today.

And again, based on that, based on Herald Oferdomo in the post-game interview saying he had not spoken to Cotel today, There's, I mean, there's some reason to be concerned. Kattel is staying in the same hotel as his teammates, right? So hopefully. Hopefully. I mean, that John Gambadoro said after a little while here, he said that the Diamondbacks believe Ketel Marte is at the team hotel, but do not know for sure.

It's all of that uncertainty. That sounds great. Yeah. That uncertainty is not great, Damon. And I mean, again, this just already, I think, compounds and is going to make all of these, I guess, reputation rumors about Cattel just grow, right? Like this dates back to last year when he missed time. And again, the biggest thing about that was he missed time when he was in the Dominican Republic

and did not have much contact. In fact, I feel like we're even hearing a little bit more about that incident now. because one of the things Gambo said was that the Diamondbacks would not have known where he was if it wasn't for him being on an iPad that showed that he was in the Dominican Republic. And like again, all of that causes quite a bit of concern for, you know, people that are in the pro-Catel Marte camp.

You know, it starts, you know, it starts lending credence to why this team might have been more than just listening to offers for Cattel during this past off season. And again, it's not to say that that's what's going on in this case. It's just to say that this is going to exasperate all of those feelings and all of that from last year, right? Or that's at least where people immediately go, you know, but we shouldn't because we still don't know anything about the true reasons why, you know, Cattel missed this game tonight.

I think it's just the idea that he was in Boston and that he was at the team hotel but didn't make the game that seems the most, you know, confusing part about this. Obviously, if he received some sudden news, then yeah, that's going to change things. And you might miss the game if something, you know, terrible happened and you found that information at prior to the game. Yeah. And you mentioned, you know, Cattel's camp. And speaking of Cattel's camp, I think Francis Romero is the reporter who is probably most, you know, in that side of the baseball world. Like he typically has a lot of Cotel Marté, cited information, especially throughout this past off season with a lot of the trade rumors. He said that Cotell Marte did not report to Fenway as he's dealing with personal matters

and the debacks have placed him on the restricted list. There's no estimated return date at this point, but he is currently listed as day to day. See, and that sounds like something bad happened. It does, but hopefully he's back as soon as possible, I guess, was my interpretation of that. Like, if he's day to day, shouldn't keep him out, hopefully. for, you know, too long, maybe the entirety of this Red Sox series and he's back after that. I mean, maybe that's just hopeful thinking. But, yeah, it's certainly just like one of the we're weirder situations we've ever seen, I feel like.

And we just don't really have any sort of information on what's going on. I do think that like the debacks, if they're truly in the dark, then that's something that he probably could have done a better job communicating. Yeah. We don't need to know. It's not, it's not, you know, we're not, you know, necessarily privy to that information. That's not, you know, on him to divulge that stuff with us. But it feels like, you know, if the debacks really didn't have a good grasp of what was happening,

then, yeah, I mean, we got to figure out a better way to communicate here. It's one thing to be in the public eye as a celebrity, but it's a whole other beast to be an athlete on, you know, a baseball team, an MLB team, an NBA team, right? Because like people want to know why you were out. People want to judge the reason why you're out. People want, you know, like that, they feel like as fans of that team,

they deserve that answer. And you're right. In some cases, we're not privy to that. And I hope, like I said, at the end of the day, my hope is that there's, you know, that everybody's okay and nothing's wrong, you know.

But like you said earlier, if if if if there is nothing wrong then why did kutel martay miss this game and why was nothing communicated to the team right so like if there's nothing wrong as far as there being some sort of personal event or some sort of issue that happened that prevented you know marty from being in this game then you do got to ask the question if something's wrong in the bigger picture of marty's relationship with this team right but we can't even get into that until we know the true reason why he missed time if we find out that reason. But more importantly, you know, they needed him on a night like this. And again, it might have just been out of his control. But do you can't help the think that I was going to say, do you really think that this loss, this blowout tonight had nothing to do with that? I don't.

I don't. It's hard to have your head in the right space when your star second baseman just doesn't show up. I think it's hard to press on and no one knows why, right? You guys are looking at each other. Like they're human beings. They're whispering to each other. They're asking each other questions. That's a problem in that clubhouse and in that dugout.

I'm not saying that they're not going to support Katel. And I'm not going to say that once again, if we all find out the reason. And obviously if it's, you know, something that would keep any person out of a game, then I think everybody's going to be very understanding of the, nature of what happened, right? But you can't help but think that that was a huge distraction tonight. They lost 11 to 1, so I'm not going to act like, oh, if Ketel was there, it might have been this big difference of a game, right?

But I will say that you can't help but think that their morale was probably pretty low with how big this series is, with how important every game is now. Between now and the end of September, it's hard not to have one of your best players there. and not know why he's not there. You know, it's, again, for him not to be there due to injury, that's already something that's going to kind of knock you down and make you feel bad, you know, morale-wise. But to have no idea why Marte wasn't there had to be something

that was on everyone's mind in that, you know, clubhouse tonight. Yeah, and Michael brings up something too. Like he put on his Instagram story six hours ago, like a Corbyn Carroll player of the week thing. So he was, you know, he's on his phone wherever he's at and he's supporting one of his teammates, but, you know, he's, he's not at the ballparker with the team. That would have been two hours before the game. Yeah, something like that. Again, I mean.

An hour and a half even potentially. Like, I don't know. That kind of makes it even stranger, right? He got into Boston last night. He was obviously just sitting around, doom scrolling like the rest of us on. Instagram, right? So, I mean, I don't really have an answer here. I just hope once again, I hope everybody's okay. And, you know, I hope whatever the reason is isn't, you know, unfortunate news about somebody that's close to could tell. Like, that's all I have to say about that.

But again, it's hard, it's hard not to sit there and wonder. And I would be lying if I, if I didn't say it, it's hard not to wonder if there's not something that is a major reason for him to missed, then, you know, what, what's going on here, right? So we'll, we'll talk about that more obviously, but we just wanted to get a give, give our reaction here overall. And I think we're just as stunned as so many people out there, stunned, worried, you know, like worried in several different ways. Like, it's, this is truly like being a parent and not knowing where your kid is, like, and worried in every possible way that you could be worried. That's how I feel. I'm a dad. So it's hard for me not to do that way. Where are you? You could tell. Why didn't you call?

Where? What? I took it off the screen because the comment from the journey was about him embarking on his his fatherhood because he just had his child a couple of days ago. And then you were talking about losing your kid. And I was like, man, what timing for me? I didn't mean losing your kid. I just meant your kid went out with their friends and isn't texting you back and isn't picking up their phone when you call. That's the dad mode I'm in, right? Where you're a little mad, but you're more worried and all of that. And the journey will get to experience all those beautiful feelings of being terrorized once he has a teenager like I do in the room next to me. But congratulations to you, the journey, by the way. He says, again, just had their baby

girl a couple days ago. I'm a father. I'm over the moon. Carry on. I want to say this, the best piece of advice I got. Two pieces of advice. One, having a baby girl. baby girl as a father is the best thing ever because you always get to be dad. You always get to be daddy. You always get to be the light of her life. And even when she's 40 years old, you get to still be dad in a special way that you don't get to be when you're a father of a son. You got to start treating them like a man at like nine. It's ridiculous.

Also, I will say, enjoy every moment because it passes by faster than you'll ever believe. So that's, that was the best piece of advice. And I got that while playing Call of Duty with my friends who basically took. told me you get off playing the game and go go change my change my daughter so uh but hey congratulations to you wisdom um well again i mean that's i'm not joking when i say like the feelings i feel about kattel are similar to that that that that not knowing you know where he is not knowing if he's okay not knowing if something happened and also being like it's scary yeah yeah it's it's not great but again we'll find out more we'll have more tomorrow night we'll be back uh in fact uh

Mac Damon and I are doing a whole lot of podcasting over this next 48 hour period of time. We'll be doing a live watch along here on the PHNX channel. So make sure to join us for that. And we'll be talking about this situation and more while watching game two of the Boston Red Sox versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. Plus, we'll have a post game show after that game as well. So make sure to join us for all of that. Until then, hope we get some good news. I don't feel like there's any direction where we do get good news about this.

though. So hopefully we find out some more though soon. And of course we will be discussing it here. So make sure to join us no matter what. Until then, you can follow us on social on at cap underscore K-man with a K. Damon is at Damon Dog with a D-A-W-G there at the end. We're all Damon's dogs, even this cat that just walked in my room. But our shows at P-H-N-X underscore D-Vax and all roads do lead to at P-H-N-X underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Appreciate your guys time. This is the cat I was referring to. We'll see you guys back here to Until then, hope we hear something good. And remember kids, baseball is fun.

But it's not so great when you don't know where your star second basement is.