Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte is to miss “a series of weeks” with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, manager Torey Lovullo said Tuesday.
Marte, who signed a five-year, $116.5 million contract extension a week ago, suffered the injury while running out a double in the first inning of the Diamondbacks’ 6-4 victory over the host Washington Nationals on Friday. He was removed from the game and placed on the injured list Saturday.
Marte finished third in the 2024 National League MVP race when he set career highs with 36 homers and 95 RBIs.
“He is going to be out for a series of weeks,” Lovullo said. “There is no timeline on it. We just have to let him heal, let him recover. Once we get to that point, we’ll start to initiate some baseball activities and ramp him up.
“He feels great. He looks great. He has a great spirit about him. As quickly as they possibly can, get him back into the batting cage. Get him on his legs and start to take swings so that transition from when he can’t to when he can is as short as possible.”
Marte missed time last season with ankle and back injuries that limited him to 136 games, and he has missed time with hamstring injuries in 2021 and 2022.
Garrett Hampson will get the majority of playing time at second base, Lovullo said, and rookie Tim Tawa also will see action.
