Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte: Sits Saturday with minor shoulder issue
Marte was held out of the Diamondbacks lineup during Saturday's 12-7 win over the Rockies due in part to a tender right shoulder, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports. "Maybe created some tenderness in his right shoulder," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of Marte, who initially got banged up after sliding awkwardly into third base June 3 against the Marlins. "He could play. He's available off the bench. I just want to get him ahead of it instead of playing even. We're trying to nurse him through this situation right now."
As Lovullo suggested, Marte was available off the bench and ended up entering the contest as a pinch hitter, going 0-for-2 on the evening. Marte's exit from the lineup opened up a spot in the middle infield for the struggling Nick Ahmed, who came through with one of his best games of the season (3-for-5, one home run, two doubles, three RBI). Ahmed's performance Saturday as well as the recent hot hitting of Daniel Descalso could result in the Diamondbacks deploying a rotation in the middle infield, though Marte should see plenty of playing time thanks to his own strong form at the dish of late. Each of Marte's last nine hits have gone for extra bases, with the 24-year-old submitting a 1.226 OPS in his last 10 games heading into Saturday.
