According to The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro, the Diamondbacks and manager Torey Lovullo have agreed to a one-year contract extension, leaving Lovullo poised to return for an eighth season as Arizona’s manager in 2024. As Piecoro notes, this marks the third consecutive one-year deal for Lovullo. The vote of confidence in Lovullo comes after a hot start to the 2023 campaign where the Diamondbacks have surpassed preseason expectations, posting a 35-24 record that leaves them tied with the Dodgers for first place in the NL West.
Lovullo’s managerial career began with the Diamondbacks in 2017, when the club made the playoffs with a solid 93-69 record that earned him the NL Manager of the Year award. Over the years since then, Arizona has seen the veteran core of that club, which included Paul Goldschmidt, Zack Greinke, Patrick Corbin, and AJ Pollock, depart through trades and free agency. While Lovullo managed to lead the team through the 2018 and 2019 seasons without falling below .500, the club finished the shortened 2020 season with a 25-35 record that left them in last place in the NL West.
Arizona’s struggles would grow even more pronounced in 2021, as injuries and under-performance plagued virtually every player on the team en route to a brutal 110 loss season. GM Mike Hazen’s front office stood by Lovullo through that brutal season, however, and awarded him a contract extension in September of 2021. That decision began to pay off in 2022 as the club slowly began to improve, playing to a record near .500 (34-36) after the All Star break. That improvement was brought about in part by the emergence of young players like Corbin Carroll and Jake McCarthy, along with right-hander Zac Gallen establishing himself as one of the best young starters in the game.
Despite the club beginning to lay groundwork for a bright future at the end of last season, few expected Arizona to be as successful as they have been over the first two months of the 2023 season. An offseason swap that saw Daulton Varsho sent to Toronto in exchange for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno has already paid dividends, Ketel Marte has rebounded from a difficult season in 2022, and strong performances from young players like Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, and Emmanuel Rivera have combined to produce an offense that ranks top 5 in the majors in runs scored. On the pitching side, Gallen and Merrill Kelly have formed an enviable top of the rotation, the club’s offseason commitment to Andrew Chafin has paid dividends in the bullpen, and young arms like Drey Jameson and Tommy Henry have begun to contribute as well.
Overall, Lovullo has a 446-483 record as manager of the Diamondbacks with just one playoff appearance. Nonetheless, as Arizona’s future appears to have arrived ahead of schedule the club’s front office has made the decision to assure Lovullo of his role in guiding the up-and-coming club back to the playoffs for the first time since his managerial debut in 2017.
“and strong performances from young players like Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, and Emmanuel Valdez have combined to produce an offense that ranks top 5 in the majors in runs scored.”
Emmanuel Valdez – the same guy that is on the Red Sox? Seriously guys, who does your editing? Or is it self-edited?
I think that these writers are trying to get new articles up in a hurry and sometimes mistakes happen. They are also probably checking a lot of different things at the same time to find new “breaking” news. I can’t imagine doing what they do and not making a mistake every so often.
Anyway, the mistake has already been fixed in the article.
Here’s hoping that Lovullo’s extension does not pertain to the valgus variety.
Orthopedic humor.. wrong site. This is the HOMER blog not the GOMER blog
Hazen and Lovullo are top notch. Trey is smart, well mannered, respectable man with character. Hazen pulls the right strings. The D backs should really have staying power with the deep talent pool. I have them about 100 wins better than the Padres over the next decade
They made the right move keeping Trey after all those losing seasons. He knows baseball and is even mannered. The baseball season is a marathon not a sprint.
D backs are a fun team to watch -Dodgersfan
Lovullo deserves this extension. He seems like the right kind of manager for this young core of players. And he and his staff are getting positive results.
In fact, I think Hazen has successfully instituted a distinctive identity on this organization that is producing positive results.
The coaching staff is excellent, starting with Strom and Carlson working with the pitching staff, Dave McKay working with the OF and developing the running game, and Mather and Easley certainly have the hitters producing offense.
A one year contract is hardly a vote of confidence.
Exactly what I was thinking.
I guess you take what they give you when you’re a manager.
Agreed. However, Lovullo keeps signing the deals so he mustn’t really mind
Well, he can’t hold out for a larger contract or more years. He can’t opt out after the season if they win the World Series. He can’t go on strike. The only thing he can do is sign whenever they give him. Or they just replace him with someone else regardless of how good of a job he’s done.
I guess adding on one year is a big deal, but it doesn’t seem that way to me.
One year extension?!? Is that really a vote of confidence or is this a preventative measure to keep him from signing elsewhere? Shame on the DBacks FO
Lovullo has had one of the worst records as well in franchise history not so long ago so they are just looking at him year by year how he does. Makes sense from a cost-savvy point of view.
His record was, and is, largely the result of front office decisions, not his.
Hazen’s boldest move was bringing Lovullo back after the 110 loss 2021 season. Many, if not most, were calling for Lovullo to be fired during the approximately 5-40 stretch that year and throughout the remainder of the season. You rarely see that type of patience from a GM or athletic director in today’s world. Kudos, Mike Hazen.
I was shocked when they made that decision, not because they were bad that year but because they had already been bad for some time under him. That stretch you mentioned really felt like the final strike. Thankfully Hazen didn’t have the patience of your average fan. It’s so rare nowadays to see the same manager during a team’s rebuilding phase and their reemergence
as a diehard dbacks fan I am not the biggest fan. He’s a players coach and lacks toughness. Don’t get me wrong alot of injuries hurt this team over the years. However I hate when they do this in the middle of the season. Let him push harder we are in JUNE!
How do you know he “lacks toughness?”
cause I watched him for years now. He barely says a word and always runs to the players backs even when they are horrible. There is times that toughness and benching players is needed.
“Plesac’s departure opens the door for McKenzie to make his MLB debut…” So is this not Triston or a typo?
The Diamondbacks have had one really good Manager in their history and that was Buck Showalter. They seem to get one or two decent seasons out of the others (except for Chip Hale, he was flat out terrible)