Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte was visibly distraught after a fan made a comment about his late mother during Tuesday’s game.
The Diamondbacks played the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field in Chicago, Ill. on Tuesday. During a pitching change late in the game, Marte was in tears and had to be consoled by teammate Geraldo Perdomo and Dbacks manager Torey Lovullo. Here is the video.
Ketel Marte visibly upset during the Dbacks pitching change. In tears. Hoping everything is ok with Ketel pic.twitter.com/nRC97yjMdB
— Dalton Feely (@dfeely14) June 25, 2025
After the game, which Arizona won 4-1, Lovullo revealed to reporters why Marte was so upset. Lovullo said that a fan in the stands yelled something at Marte about Marte’s mother, who died in 2017. The fan was ultimately ejected from the stadium for the comment, according to baseball reporter Francys Romero.
Marte’s mother, Elpidia Valdez, died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic in July 2017. The two-time All-Star Marte had to take a brief leave of absence from the Dbacks at the time to return to the Dominican Republic.
Marte also penned an emotional Instagram post about his mother at the time of her death.
This season, Marte has been one of Arizona’s top producers, batting a career-high .320 to go along with 15 home runs and 31 RBIs through a mere 53 games. But during Tuesday’s game, Marte was subjected to a reprehensible incident of fan misconduct in Chicago.
