Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte steps up to the plate against the Houston Astros in the fifth inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on July 23, 2025. Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ketel Marte Explains Emotional Players' Weekend Tribute

Originally posted on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI
By Alex D'Agostino | Last updated Aug 17, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The weekend of August 15-17 is a festive one across all of Major League Baseball. MLB Players' Weekend offers players a chance to show their personalities with custom gear and more.

Arizona Diamondbacks' star Ketel Marte has a special tribute in his kit during the D-backs' four-game weekend series against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte Pays Tribute to Late Mother

As many may know, Marte's mother, Elpidia Valdez, tragically passed away in a car accident in the Dominican republic back in 2017.

For this year's Players' Weekend, Marte is utilizing a custom-made bat featuring a picture of he and his late mother.

During Players' Weekend Ketel Marte will be using a special bat to honor his mom

The bat features a beautiful photo of the two of them inside of a heart surrounded by purple flowers pic.twitter.com/d2qtHwntGW
— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2025

"This is something that [I] always wanted to do, and [I'm] actually going to use a bat with a picture of [my] mom on it," Marte told MLB Network through team translator Rolando Valles.

Marte's mother was an important figure in his life and baseball journey.

"Baseball was always running in [my] family. [My] mom was very supportive [of] who [I am] today," he said.

The story of Marte and his mother came into focus earlier on in the 2025 season. A fan at Rate Field in Chicago heckled the All-Star about his mother

Marte was seen on the field in tears, and had to be consoled by manager Torey Lovullo. The fan involved in the incident was later banned from all 30 MLB ballparks.

"It was a terrible moment. Fans are nasty, and fans go too far sometimes. I love my players and I'm going to protect them," Lovullo said to D-backs.TV's Todd Walsh following the incident.

As ugly as the incident was, however, it did lead to a positive outcome. Fans showed their support for the star from not only the state of Arizona, but also across the entire United States (and even globally).

Fans rushed to donate thousands of collective dollars to the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation in the name of Marte's mother after that story surfaced.

Now, Marte is taking advantage of an opportunity to pay tribute himself with his custom bat. The All-Star has been on fire offensively of late, including two ninth-inning go-ahead homers that lifted the D-backs to a series win over the Texas Rangers.

"I will say that Ketel Marte has a massive heart. He is extremely emotional. He loves to play. He wants to be in the middle of everything with his teammates every single day," Lovullo said to Arizona Sports 98.7's Burns and Gambo on Friday.