Diamondbacks Rally Around Ketel Marte After Ugly Fan Incident
In the midst of what would become a 4-1 win over the White Sox in Chicago, Arizona Diamondbacks star second baseman Ketel Marte was seen wiping tears from his eyes.
Per multiple reports, it was later revealed that a fan at Rate Field yelled something about Marte's late mother Elpidia Valdez — who passed away in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in 2017.
Manager Torey Lovullo and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo were seen consoling Marte on the mound during a pitching change.
Sending love to Ketel Marte who was in tears on the field after a fan yelled something at him about his mother, who passed away in a car accident in 2017, per @CDrottar19 pic.twitter.com/I14Zc1gkV1
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 25, 2025
After the game, Lovullo fought back tears of his own speaking to Dbacks.TV's Todd Walsh about the situation.
"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," he said.
"I've known Ketel for nine years. He's had some unbelievably great moments and some hardships as well, and some really tough moments in his life. ... at the end of the day, we're human beings and we have emotions, and I saw him hurting, and I wanted to protect him."
Lovullo relayed his message to Marte: "'I love you, and I'm with you, and we're all together, and you're not alone. No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you heard, that guy's an idiot, and it shouldn't have an impact on you.'"
The fan was reportedly ejected from Rate Field. Marte elected not to comment on the situation, but his manager and shortstop showed their support.
“That can’t happen,” Perdomo said, according to AZCentral's Nick Piecoro. “Everybody knows how Ketel is. He’s fun. He plays the game hard. I feel bad for him. I feel mad about it. I hope MLB can do something with that guy. I don’t know who it was, but they’ve got to do something. We can’t continue to do that (expletive) here in MLB.”
“I just reacted as a dad would when I went out to change pitchers,” Lovullo said. “I could see he was sobbing. It hurt.”
It goes without saying that Marte is a crucial member of the Diamondbacks. As a player, he's had outstanding success, and is riding an impressive hot streak to a .320/.424/.608 slash this season. He went 2-for-4 with a home run in Tuesday's game.
Marte is more than simply statistics, however. The All-Star second baseman is beloved by both his teammates and his manager. Tuesday night, they had his back.
