Ketel Marte Ghosts the Diamondbacks in Boston, Lands on Restricted List

Ketel Marte traveling all the way to Boston just to ghost the Diamondbacks at Fenway Park is the kind of elite PTO usage we can all respect, even if it throws a massive wrench into the lineup.

According to reporters Nick Piecoro and Robert Murray, Arizona has officially placed their star second baseman on the Restricted List. Marte made the flight to the East Coast with the team but simply did not show up to the ballpark for the series opener against the Red Sox.

"According to Nick Piecoro, Marte arrived with the team in Boston but did not show up to Fenway Park."

This is a massive sudden absence for an Arizona team trying to hold its ground in mid-August. Marte has been the engine of this offense in his tenth season in the desert, already sitting on 18 home runs and a .773 OPS before this mysterious disappearance.

For anyone holding Diamondbacks moneyline tickets or relying on Marte's total bases props, this is a brutal late scratch. You can handicap pitching matchups and weather conditions, but you cannot handicap a guy deciding the Green Monster just isn't in his plans for the evening.

Arizona just wrapped up a dominant stretch against Colorado, outscoring the Rockies across three straight wins before flying out to Boston. Losing your best infielder right as you transition to a tough road environment completely changes the math for manager Torey Lovullo.

Usually, when a player lands on the Restricted List, there is a long, drawn-out saga or a clear off-field issue. Traveling with the team, checking into the hotel, and then just hitting "Do Not Disturb" on the manager's texts is a level of out-of-office auto-reply that corporate America could only dream of.

Until the Diamondbacks clarify exactly what personal matters are keeping Marte away from the diamond, his return timeline is a complete guessing game. Arizona will have to patch together their middle infield on the fly while Boston gets a massive break in this cross-league matchup.