Have the D-backs Accelerated Ketel Marte's Recovery Timeline?

Arizona Diamondbacks superstar second baseman Ketel Marte has been out with a hamstring strain since April 5. The switch hitter is one of the most dynamic players in the league. He finished third in the National League MVP voting in 2024 after hitting .292 with 36 homers, 95 runs scored and 92 RBI while batting either first or second in the order most of the season.

There is no doubt his presence both in the lineup and at second base has been missed. But hamstring injuries take time to heal. When the injury was first came down, the team was concerned he might miss six to eight weeks. That timeline was then shortened up to a more optimistic four weeks, as Torey Lovullo said Marte could be back by the end of April or early May.

During Thursday's press conference Lovullo reported that Marte would be taking live at bats in an extended spring training game on Friday, but would not run the bases. That changed however, as Marte in fact ran the bases, and apparently somewhat aggressively.

"Marte did some base [running] today, and I was told it looked really good. Something near 85-90%, with spikes on and digging out in the dirt."

Explaining the change, Lovullo said "He was getting after it, and they didn't want to stop him from getting after it. So he gave a really, really good effort."

Lovullo said that Marte would play again in an extended spring game Saturday, and not only run out of the box but also play some second base. "The fact that he's playing second base, he's in a game, live pitching, more suited towards what's really going to be happening once he returns here, it is a very good sign."

Looking at the team's schedule, once they finish the Braves series this weekend they fly out to New York. After an off day on Monday, the D-backs kick off a stretch of 16 games in 16 days. That begins with a three game set against the Mets, then the Phillies in Philadelphia. Following that they travel back across country to play the Mets again at Chase Field without an off day on May 5.

Based on the team's previous communications, it's been assumed that they would hold Marte out of the road trip and have him resume playing in games when the team returns on May 5. Despite his work and baseball activity ramping up as quickly as it is right now, Marte joining the team on the road still seems like a long shot.

Lovullo and the medical staff are acutely aware of past experience. Last year Alek Thomas came back too soon from his hamstring injury and ended up re-injuring it, missing the entire first half of the season.

Top prospect Jordan Lawlar came back too soon from a hamstring injury last year and ended up missing significant time as well. And of course Marte himself battled two injured list stints due to hamstring issue back in 2021.

"I know Ketel's heart, and he probably wants to come back right now," Lovullo said. "The athlete is performing his best that he can, saying that he is as ready as possible. But I know better. We've all lived through this experience where you ask someone to come back too soon and they tweak it again. So we're trying to stay out of that space, and we're going to give it the extra time."

Based on these comments it would be a surprise then to see Marte play in the Mets series in New York, although it can't be completely ruled out as of this writing. One thing we know for sure is when he does come back, he will be eased back into things.

Marte will likely not play the field in back to back days initially, and will probably get more than the usual amount of his reps at DH. At the same time there might be some in game situations where they will encourage him to not go 100% when running out routine plays.

"We run hard down the line here. We do a good job of that. We might allow him to pull back a little bit in the right places just to be smart to let him recover a little bit and make sure he's available the next day to play full speed. We're going to take our time with this for sure" Lovullo said.

None this will guarantee Marte will not re-injure the hamstring. Baseball is an explosive, reactive sport. Sharp, sudden movements and acceleration are part and parcel of what's required to play the game at a high level. At a certain point instincts take over. If the injury is not completely healed, then ending up in a bad, or even worse spot is a very real possibility. Hopefully Marte and the team can avoid such a fate.