Ketel Marte, Tommy Pham and Aaron Judge: Recapping a dramatic week in baseball
The "Dog Days of Summer" have been anything but boring...
The middle of August is infamously known across baseball as the “Dog Days of Summer.” The Trade Deadline has wrapped up, postseason races are still a few weeks away from really taking shape and everyone is feeling the effects of a long season.
Despite that, there has been plenty of drama on and off the field to keep the attention of baseball fans. Here is a recap of what happened with Ketel Marte, Tommy Pham and Aaron Judge over the last week:
Ketel Marte gets called out, then apologizes for missing games:
On Friday, Aug. 15, the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro reported that there was growing tension between the Arizona Diamondbacks and superstar second baseman Ketel Marte stemming from the two games he missed after the All-Star game.
“For the past month, teammates and others in the organization have quietly grumbled about his propensity to ask for days off,” Piecoro wrote. “They were frustrated by the time off he requested following the burglary of his home, with some believing his departure around the All-Star break set in motion the collapse that led to the Diamondbacks' trade deadline sell-off.”
While his home was in fact burglarized, he also traveled straight to the Dominican Republic to vacation with his family instead of returning to Arizona with fellow Diamondbacks All-Stars Eugenio Suarez and Corbin Carroll.
Following up on Piecoro’s article, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported on Sunday that the Diamondbacks would consider trading Marte this offseason, even going as far as calling Marte a “diva.”
When there’s smoke, there’s fire. Piecoro has been covering the Diamondbacks since 2007. Despite his occasional Twitter gaffes, Nightengale, who is based in Arizona, is still one of the most well-connected people in baseball. If the two journalists who are arguably the most tapped in to the Diamondbacks organization are reporting that things have gotten this bad with Marte, it is fair to assume that is the truth.
After these reports about Marte were published, Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo made sure to defend his teammate and aired out his frustration with Piecoro and Nighengale following Sunday’s game via azcentral.com’s Jose Romero.
“I want to get something clear about one of my teammates,” Perdomo said. “I’m tired of this. It is gonna be for all reporters and all the writers. This is the second time something came out for Marte. Please, he just wants to play baseball. I don’t want to speak as a team. I want to be as a brother. Just leave the guy alone. You know, it’s been too much for him. You know what I mean? I feel he doesn’t deserve that and whatever happened in the past, it was in the past.”
“We’re playing good baseball right now and I feel, we just want to have fun,” Perdomo continued. “And we just want to play. Just please, please. You guys have to stop. You know what I mean? Whoever’s writing, whoever’s saying shit, in the media or outside, please. We just want to play baseball. And keep that guy alone, please. That’s it.”
On Monday, Marte apologized for missing those two games in July and defended the time off he has taken in the past to help manage lingering injuries.
Marte, who is currently 31, agreed to a six-year, $116.5 million contract extension with the Diamondbacks in April. He has a player option for his age-37 season in 2031 and would become an unrestricted free agent again for his age-38 season in 2032. For any team that needs an upgrade at second base, Marte would be an incredibly attractive option. He has significant team control at an affordable rate and performs at an MVP-level when healthy.
While it would likely take a massive haul for the Diamondbacks to seriously consider trading Marte, his status will be one of the biggest stories to monitor this offseason.
Tommy Pham bat-flips walk, benches clear and Pham takes to social media:
In the bottom of the seventh inning of Monday’s game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tommy Pham drew a walk. Seems normal, right? Wrong.
After taking what ended up being the fourth ball, instead of just making his way down to first base per usual, Pham flipped his bat after the pitch and appeared to say something to Blue Jays catcher Taylor Heineman on his way to first. Heineman talked back, and the benches cleared.
That is not where the drama ends. After the game, MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson tweeted out Heineman’s reaction to the incident. Heineman told Matheson that he did not say anything and “you’re probably just as confused as I am.” Heineman continued, “I don’t even know him. No idea. Barely know who he is. It was weird, man. It was weird. It was unprovoked and super weird."
Pham then replied to Matheson’s post, writing, “Bitching about a ball not being called a strike to the umpire when it’s clearly below the zone and away is disrespectful not only to the umpire but the hitter as well so like I said when I flipped the bat fuck him @KeeganMatheson dude has two years in the show I know the zone”
Pham continued to be active on social media, replying to Blue Jays fans, and, in now deleted posts, claimed that Blue Jays right fielder and third baseman Addison Barger is currently using steroids.
While Barger was suspended in 2019 for a banned substance, after Pham’s social media crusade, he clarified to The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon that he was suspended for a stimulant, not a steroid.
This is not the first time, and likely will not be the last time that Pham is involved in some off-the-field drama. Most notably, in 2022 when Pham was with the Cincinnati Reds, he was suspended for three games and fined $5,000 for slapping then-San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson in the face over a fantasy football dispute.
Aaron Judge calls out Aaron Boone for comments on his rehab:
While he is no longer on the injured list and is back in the lineup as a designated hitter, New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge is still recovering from a right flexor strain and is working his way back to 100%.
On Tuesday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone went on WFAN and provided an update on Judge’s throwing progress and potential return to the field.
"We’re trying to get through where he can let it go with ease and be able to protect himself,” Boone said. “I don’t think we’re going to see him back to throwing like he normally does at any point this year, but that’s OK, too. We’ve got to feel like he can go out there and be able to protect himself and represent himself.”
Judge and Boone were asked about those comments before Tuesday’s game, and seemed surprised at his manager’s diagnosis per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.
“I don’t know why he said that,” Judge said. “He hasn’t seen me throw for the past two weeks. I’m pretty confident I’ll get back to it.”
Boone then clarified, "I think I was trying to say, initially, I don’t expect him coming out and making Aaron Judge throws that we’ve become accustomed to seeing.”
It does not seem like there was any lasting damage done to their relationship or on Judge’s performance at the plate, with Judge homering during the Yankees’ 13-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. However, it does highlight a potentially larger issue in the Yankees clubhouse. This season, especially at times over the last month, the Yankees have under-performed and Boone has come under fire for some of his decision making. Having this much disconnect between a manager and a star player during a rehab process should certainly raise some eyebrows on how the Yankees organization is currently operating.