NL DIVISION SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS DODGERS

October 8, 2023

Torey Lovullo

Dodger Stadium

Arizona Diamondbacks

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. This is probably a good problem to have but to have your ace on the mound for Game 2 and have a completely fresh bullpen, how do you balance those two things and when you'll be weighing what Zac's doing tomorrow?

TOREY LOVULLO: I'll do it the same way I have all year with Zac. He consistently goes out there, executes the game plan at a very high level and competes. And that's what we've been talking about doing as a group is just going out there, competing, doing our job. And that's going to be our mindset as a group.

Specifically on Zac, it will be me watching him and figuring out when it's time to turn it over to the bullpen and just pay close attention to how they're stacking their team and stacking their lineup, creating some matchup opportunities that will create an advantage for us, once they start to maneuver into the bullpen.

It will be the same math equation that I follow at all times. But it feels very good.

And I want our guys to stay hungry. I want our guys to stay humble and stay where they're at right now because they're ready for the challenge of every day.

Q. When did you feel like an upbeat in confidence? Was it winning Game 1 in Milwaukee -- was it clinching that last Saturday or before that?

TOREY LOVULLO: I'll go back to the Chicago series in Wrigley against the Cubs. We felt like we had to go in and make up some ground, and we were playing the Cubs. And it was just direct competition. We saw where they were and they were the first Wild Card team at that time.

And then coming home probably Game 2, the extra inning Game 2 was a big push for us, emotionally that we have a chance to come out the next day and sweep them, which we ended up doing, and I think the team took off from there.

Then I think we got a little numbers conscious. We started at the end of the year, you start having different types of meetings, different types of conversations that you have to have as a group. And we end up losing four in a row.

But that third day, the Saturday, I felt there was a collective exhale in our clubhouse. We got in, we fought, we earned it, now let's go out and do what we do best.

So for me those were a couple of key points, but obviously winning the first day in Milwaukee, coming back on Corbin Burnes I think told us a story we could beat anybody at any time.

Q. Just back to what you were talking about, the humility, staying humble, last night getting to speak to the players in the clubhouse one by one, it was really amazing how they talked about themes that you have -- connectedness, working together as a team and all that. So how do you go about making sure that those messages are continually reinforced especially after a game like last night, to make sure they maintain that approach?

TOREY LOVULLO: Well, I know when I come up here it's basically out of my mouth and in their hands. And I know that I can drive home a lot of key points, a lot of key thoughts that I'm having right now at the moment. But they're always following the same theme. And those are big words inside of our culture.

All those things that you hear me say -- a connection, the effort, the preparation, the belief -- those are all things that they've heard since Spring Training over and over again. And I know at times they probably get tired of hearing from me and hearing all that, but it's really what we stand on in good times and in bad.

But they're a pretty special group of guys that pay attention, and they care about the right things. And they know because what I've been telling them what's important to me should be important to you because what's important to you as a player is extremely important to me. So we have to work together to keep pushing this thing forward.

And I don't really pick up on a lot of social media stuff. I'll have a lot of stuff clipped and sent to me in the form of a text message. And I'll hear it. And I'm like, yeah, that's pretty good. I was proud of the way player A or player B said that.

That was something that we talked about four months ago when we were in San Francisco, that was the conversation I had with that player. And that makes me feel good. Makes me feel good because they actually listened to me. Sometimes you think nobody listens to you, but they actually listened.

Q. When you're coming off a game like last night, how does it impact the feeling, the confidence in the clubhouse knowing you have Zac going tomorrow?

TOREY LOVULLO: I think this team has been having a certain feeling for probably the past three or four weeks. We've been playing in a lot of pressurized games. And I remember walking into the White Sox clubhouse on day two. And I looked around that clubhouse and I felt like that entire clubhouse was relaxed and just ready to go out and compete.

That's what I've been seeing every single time in the postseason as well. So things haven't changed.

I think they know that Zac is starting for us. I think everybody feels good about it. And I don't care what anybody says -- and I'll go back all the way when I was a player -- I knew who was pitching that day or the next day. I knew who was pitching for us, against us.

And it kind of, it drove me in what my thoughts were about how we could attack that next day.

Zac Gallen is one of the best pitchers in the league. But the Dodgers are a very good baseball team. And we're aware of it. We can't expect to just walk out on this field because Zac Gallen is starting and win the baseball game. We know that.

And that's why we're here today working out because we're going to fine tune a couple things and stay where we are and have conversations that need to be had. That will prepare us for tomorrow. It's always a good starting point.

Q. I don't think Zac was super happy with his start in MIlwaukee because of how the first inning unfolded. Is that emblematic of the type of competitor that he is?

TOREY LOVULLO: For sure. He threw 30-plus pitchers. I know it's the second or third time he's done it all year long. He expects perfection from himself and we know nobody's perfect. But he strives for it with every pitch he throws.

I know I told you guys, it's a real story, he walked by me in frustration and said, I'm going seven for you today. I said, okay, show me, go ahead and do it. And he just about did.

I think he can reverse course on certain things. I think because of that first inning he'll have to go out in a very motivated way over these next three, four days, land on the bump tomorrow and go out and never like something like that happen again. I think he's in a good spot.

Q. Coming in as the third Wild Card team, you guys were not necessarily expected to do what you've done so far. Do you feel you've made some sort of a statement of some sort with how you've played so far?

TOREY LOVULLO: I hope so. The Milwaukee Brewers were not a pushover team. We played good baseball against them. I think this team has a chip on its shoulder. We take it personal when we watch some of the comments on television or read some of the things where everybody wanted to be re-seeded, the Braves -- re-seed this thing so the Braves can pick on the lowly Diamondbacks.

I think this team takes that very personally, and hopefully people are recognizing that you can't just walk all over us. We're a good baseball team. We do things right. We do it in a very uncommon way. We care about things that other teams probably don't care about or talk about, and it's showing up every single day for us.

Q. Didn't get a chance to talk last night about Alek Thomas' home run and the at-bat that led to it. What was going through your mind throughout all that? What does it say given the situation of the game probably over that he's battling the way he is?

TOREY LOVULLO: That's our mindset. We do it differently. And we don't shut down. This is a very young, energized team with something to prove every single day. It's a 14-pitch at-bat. And probably eight to 10 pitches into it, I turned to Jeff Bannister and said, he doesn't have anything to get him out with. He's going to hit this ball hard.

I think both the pitcher and hitter knew it -- and probably the catcher -- and that's a good feeling when you're that locked in as a hitter.

This team's hungry. We're humble. I want to be humble, but this team is extremely motivated, extremely connected and extremely hungry. When somebody goes 14 pitches in and hits a ball over the right center field wall, that's a huge statement.

Q. You just said that you guys care about things maybe that other teams don't. I'm curious kind of specifically what it is that you feel like this team does that maybe kind of separates itself?

TOREY LOVULLO: I don't mean to sound like we're -- I don't want to be arrogant with that statement. I don't know what happens inside of every clubhouse or every dugout, but we talk about the minutiae, the granular wins, the pitch-by-pitch wins.

We believe in playing fundamental baseball, picking up the baseball, throwing it to the right base, practicing at a very fast pace, digging in, not giving away at-bats.

I think it's all very common. I think a lot of teams have it. We just talk about it. I think we have to because we're young and we have to instruct and teach these players through the course of the day and have those conversations. It's just coming together at the right time for us and it looks good. We want to keep it there.

I probably have to think about the things that we talked about. I have a booklet of what we talked about in Spring Training and then we continue to talk about through the course of the season that matter. They're not gimmick plays. They're not trick plays, but they're things that pop up that these guys are ready to pull out of their tool belt at any time and execute at a high level.