PHOENIX -- In the darkest moments of the 2021 season with his team heading toward 110 losses, Torey Lovullo could not have foreseen what transpired Sunday, when the D-backs extended their manager through 2024.
At that time, Lovullo leaned heavily on his wife, Kristen, who would constantly remind him that he could do it. Her support was one of the big reasons why Lovullo was able to stay positive around his young players, who were learning on the job.
“It was dark,” Lovullo said. “It was real dark. And I never imagined sitting here saying that I was going to be guaranteed another couple of years, you know? Two years ago, I didn't know where I was. I was lost emotionally, but I couldn't show that because I had a team to be in charge of.”
In September of that year, the D-backs extended Lovullo through the 2022 season with an option for ‘23. They picked up that option last August.
Recently, D-backs GM Mike Hazen began talking with managing general partner Ken Kendrick and team president/CEO Derrick Hall about once again extending Lovullo’s contract.
With them on board, Hazen broached the subject with Lovullo a few days ago, and they quickly came to an agreement on a one-year extension. Part of the reason the deal is for one year and not longer is because Hazen’s contract runs out after the 2024 season as well.
The extension comes as the D-backs are off to a strong start to the season despite losing the last two games to the Braves, including Sunday’s 8-5 heartbreaker at Chase Field. Arizona is 35-25 and at worst will be one game behind the Dodgers in the NL West pending the outcome of the Dodgers-Yankees game Sunday night.
“The team's been playing this way the entire time from Spring Training on,” Hazen said. “I think the degree of preparation that we see that goes into this with Torey and with his coaching staff is something that we think is an asset of ours. The way the team plays for him, that's been fairly consistent even in the seasons where it hasn't gone extremely well from a win-loss standpoint.”
When the D-backs were struggling in 2021, Lovullo and the front office knew that better days were likely ahead given the depth and amount of talent coming up through the farm system.
Lovullo at that time, as he still does to this day with the next wave of prospects, did his best to keep in touch with them. He texts with a number of the organization’s prospects to try to help make for a more seamless transition when they get to the big leagues.
By extending Lovullo, Hazen wanted to also reassure a clubhouse that enjoys playing for their manager that he was going to be a part of the future.
“We're gonna go through some ups and downs again, and to know that stability is, I think, is important,” Hazen said. “I think the conversations that he's having with players today about what we're going to be doing today and moving forward, I think there's more substance behind that because of [the extension]. And I think that's an important thing for us to establish, and I think he deserves it, given what he's done in this job. I think we're reaping a lot of the investments that he made in those players through those [tougher] periods of time.”
Lovullo had a lot of success early in his tenure with the D-backs as they improved from a last-place finish to a Wild Card spot in 2017, his first year at the helm.
The results the past few seasons haven’t matched the ones he had in his first few, but Lovullo’s growth as a manager was clear to Hazen and is something that Lovullo himself acknowledges.
“When I first got here, I was more about just allowing guys to perform, go out there and do what they did best, putting them in a comfortable situation and supporting them,” Lovullo said. “But I've learned over the past couple of years how important it is to hold the [coaching] staff accountable and the players accountable to getting better every single day. So there were some push moments where I've had to learn how to be comfortable having uncomfortable conversations.”