Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star infielder/outfielder Ketel Marte has a stress reaction in his lower back and will miss the remainder of the season, general manager Mike Hazen told reporters on Friday.
According to the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro, Marte will not need surgery and is expected to be ready for spring training with an offseason of rest and rehab. The team’s official Twitter feed retweeted a report of MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert confirming the news.
The injury brings to an end an MVP-caliber season for a player who has been the main driving force behind a team still competing for a playoff spot. The Diamondbacks entered Friday five games behind Milwaukee for the second National League wild-card slot.
Martel, 25, currently leads the NL with 187 base hits and, had he not gotten injured, had a chance at 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored. He ends his season with 32 home runs, 97 runs and 92 RBIs in 144 games. His slash numbers of .329/.389/.592 are all in the top seven in the NL.
His 6.9 WAR is eighth in baseball this season, per Baseball Reference.
Marte came to Arizona in a trade with Seattle in November 2016, a deal which included pitcher Taijuan Walker going to the Diamondbacks and outfielder Mitch Haniger and infielder Jean Segura going to the Mariners.
In five seasons, Marte has a .282 average with 54 home runs, 219 RBIs and 275 runs scored. He led the majors in triples last season with 12.