This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert’s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
When he was a player in the Minor Leagues for the Tigers, Torey Lovullo never heard from Detroit's big league manager, Sparky Anderson.
"I would have never dreamed of getting a phone call from Sparky Anderson," Lovullo said. "I probably would have cried if I talked to him on the phone. But it's different today."
Indeed it is, and Lovullo has changed with the times. It's not uncommon for him to text players in the Arizona Minor League system during the season.
"You know, you can reach out to these kids, and in two seconds, they get your message," Lovullo said. "It's mostly congratulatory when they do something. I want them to know that they're thought about. And then, when [No. 2 prospect Alek Thomas] walks in here, he knows that we're all in this together. There's no levels here. There's no levels amongst the players. There's no levels amongst the staff and the players. We're all in this together. We just have different jobs."
One of the times Lovullo reached out to Thomas was when the outfielder hit a walk-off grand slam in April.
"He texted me after the grand slam to say how excited he was for me," Thomas said. "He said it was great to see the emotion I showed. It's really cool to have the manager of the big league team hit you up when you're in the Minor Leagues. It's good that we have a manager who is keeping track of everyone, no matter where they're at."
Arguably, Lovullo's biggest strength as a manager is the relationship he builds with his players.
Whether it's an All-Star like Paul Goldschmidt or a role player like Daniel Descalso, they've all raved about the way Lovullo communicated with them.
Perhaps nothing speaks to Lovullo's ability in this area better than earlier this year, when he passed Kirk Gibson for most victories by a manager in franchise history and received a text from former D-backs pitcher Zack Greinke, not one known for reaching out.
But it wasn't until recently that it came to light that Lovullo's texting extended to Minor League players as well.
"I have relationships with a lot of players throughout this organization," Lovullo said. "It's not just the 26 that are here."