PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star Ketel Marte is going on the restricted list for personal reasons, and the D-backs have signed free agent Sergio Alcantara two weeks after he was designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants, manager Torey Lovullo told Burns & Gambo on Arizona Sports 98.7.
The D-backs also recalled catcher Adrian Del Castillo and selected the contract of right-handed relief pitcher Trevor Richards. They optioned Tristin English and placed catcher Gabriel Moreno on the 60-day injured list from the 10-day IL.
“Asked for a couple of personal days, so he’s going to step away,” Lovullo said of Marte on Friday, before Arizona begins the second half of the 2025 schedule on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals. “Just dealing with something very personal, so we needed the backup infielder. We anticipate this to hopefully be a quick resolution within the next couple days.”
Marte’s house was burglarized on Tuesday when the second baseman was at the MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta.
It is the 29-year-old Alcantara’s sixth stint with Arizona in his career. The versatile infielder last was with the team in 2024 and was signed as an international free agent by Arizona in 2012.
He played 71 games for the Diamondbacks over two stints during the 2022 season, slashing .241/.283/.406. That sandwiched a stint with the San Diego Padres.
He rejoined Arizona for his fourth stint for a portion of the 2023 season.
Alcantara has also played in the majors for Detroit (2020), the Chicago Cubs (2021) and Giants (2025).
The D-backs previously optioned reliever Juan Morillo to Triple-A Reno to open an active roster spot.
How the Diamondbacks will use Adrian Del Castillo
Del Castillo returns to the major leagues for the first time this season after making his MLB debut in 2024. He slugged to start his D-backs career with three home runs and 14 RBIs over his first nine games, including a grand slam in his hometown of Miami and a walk-off home run against the Philadelphia Phillies.
After a 1-for-18 stretch, Del Castillo heated back up with a four-game hitting streak before getting optioned with starting catcher Gabriel Moreno back from the injured list.
Shoulder and back injuries have limited Del Castillo to 14 games in Reno and 14 in the Arizona Complex League this season, and he has only caught nine games for the Aces.
In 70 plate appearances with Reno, Del Castillo has slashed .288/.386/.559 with four home runs and 16 RBIs. Perhaps a promising sign of growth in a small sample size is that his walk rate is at a career-high pace of 15.3% in 131 MiLB plate appearances.
He is back in the big leagues to fill a role as a left-handed bat in the order. Diamondbacks designated hitter Pavin Smith remains on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain and has yet to begin baseball activities.
“ I could see him sitting as a DH in most spots against right-handed pitching,” manager Torey Lovullo said on Thursday.
Del Castillo could see some time behind the plate as a third catcher with Jose Herrera and James McCann. McCann has started to take first base reps to be a backup option for Josh Naylor since English was sent down.
Trevor Richards joins the bullpen
Richards signed a minor league deal with the D-backs last month as organizational pitching depth in Triple-A.
He has pitched in 293 MLB games since making his debut in 2018 for Miami. He tossed 65.1 innings last season between the Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins, throwing to a 4.55 ERA and 62 strikeouts.
The 32-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs over the offseason but did not make the team this spring. He found a major league opportunity with the Kansas City Royals, where he made three appearances before getting designated for assignment.
Richards has allowed one earned run in his last seven appearances for the Aces.
English and Morillo head down
English heads back down after receiving four major league plate appearances in one start. With Randal Grichuk slotted at the DH against lefties, the Diamondbacks evidently saw a need to bring in another left-handed bat to round out the roster for the time being.
Morillo rejoins the Aces after a rough outing at Angel Stadium before the All-Star break, when he allowed four earned runs in an inning that raised his ERA to 4.95. The 26-year-old has been leaned on in a higher leverage role as a rookie due to the numerous injuries in Arizona’s bullpen.
“ The lack of consistency is what caught up to him, in my opinion,” Lovullo said. “So that’s what I told him. Just go out there, be yourself, be consistent, can’t rely on one pitch. … When he has a three-pitch mix, he’s very effective.”
The Diamondbacks open the second half of their season on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals at Chase Field.
Alex Weiner and Kevin Zimmerman contributed to this story.
