NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 19, 2023

Torey Lovullo

Chase Field

Arizona Diamondbacks

Pregame 3 Press Conference

TOREY LOVULLO: I got a text that Coach K wants to have you on his podcast, and I'm, like, is this a joke? Did you send this text to the right person? This is Torey Lovullo. They were, like, yeah. I'm, like, no way.

Q. I told you you were going to get famous this week.

TOREY LOVULLO: I wanted to be famous for the right reasons. Not famous for making bone-head moves for all the wrong reasons. We talked about that.

Q. That comes with the job, so...

TOREY LOVULLO: Right. I signed up for it.

Q. You got a shout-out in Buffalo too.

TOREY LOVULLO: Did I? Coach Sean got me, yeah.

Q. Because of your wife, right?

TOREY LOVULLO: I married into the Bills mafia for sure, but I've gotten to be good friends with Sean McDermott, their head coach. Yeah, I guess when we got in or we beat the Brewers, I don't remember when it was, yeah.

Q. (Off microphone)

TOREY LOVULLO: Crazy. Either I was in or she wouldn't have married me, but...

Okay. Let's talk baseball.

THE MODERATOR: Who wants the first baseball question for Torey?

Q. How is Tommy Pham's toe feeling, and will he be available to play right field for you today?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, he is feeling just fine. Well enough to play right field, so that's where we're starting this early morning. And I had a brief conversation with him, and he's a gamer. He said, whatever you need me to do, I'll be ready to go.

So that's what it comes down to, right? It's selling out for the team, selling out for the bigger good, and that's who he is at his core. So, yeah, I anticipate he will be a right fielder today.

Q. What did that mean to be able to go on Coach K's podcast?

TOREY LOVULLO: I was honored. I've been a big Coach K guy for 20-plus years. I told him part of his DNA is in our clubhouse. One of his core beliefs -- and I remember reading in his book, and that was the only connection I had to him was to reading stuff that he wrote or he said -- was that I could put a player in a box and let him grow as big as that box. If I open up the lid to that box, he can become the most amazing player ever. Those are things I talk about in that culture.

For me to sit down and have him call me by my first name, I wish I could have told him what I was thinking at the time. I was trying to listen to the question that he was asking me, and I barely was able to because I thought to myself 15 times, I cannot believe that I'm talking to Coach K right now. This just is not happening.

It meant a lot to me. It meant a lot to me that he was interested in what's happening inside of our world, inside of our culture, and he wants to know some of the strategies and some of the mindsets that I have. That blows me away. I'll never get used to that.

I'm just a dope from Los Angeles, California, and I don't feel like I deserve to be sitting in the same space as him, but I guess at the end of the day, I do, and that's an honor.

Q. What did you decide to do with your lineup today?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, I'm unable to tell you guys exactly what it is and what it looks like, but there will be some adjustments into it. You'll see that.

Q. When do you have to have it posted?

TOREY LOVULLO: I think it's three hours before the game. There's a strategy, right? I'll apologize openly right now. A lot of times I'll get some messages from writers or some people that will be coming to our game and say, what's your lineup today? I don't even respond to that text because I can't. I think by rule, I give the lineup to Jeff Banister who gets it out to the players, and then we turn it over to Casey, and they send it to Major League Baseball. And then for reasons that are way above what I understand, it goes out at one time for, I think, betting purposes. I can't tell you exactly what it is.

But it goes out at the same time every day, and you will see a change. It reflects change today.

Q. When it comes to handling your pitching staff today, how much do you allow yourself to worry about the next two days? Is it just figure out how to win today and worry about tomorrow tomorrow?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, I'm not going to worry about tomorrow. We got to win this game today, that's it, plain and simple. During the season, you can say, hey, we're going to be okay. We don't have time to be okay. We have to do it right now.

Yeah, the investment is going to be -- it's going to be a full investment today, and everybody is ready to go from the first pitch on. We'll get through tomorrow tomorrow. We're guaranteed a game tomorrow, I know that, but I can't worry about that right now. We're going to go all-in on today for sure.

Q. I know you can't discuss the actual lineup, but this is, it sounds like, the first time in the postseason that you're actually going to make some substantive changes other than flipping Ketel and Corbin. What made you feel like you needed to shift things more dramatically than you had?

TOREY LOVULLO: Because a little bit of what Nick was asking, in the same vein, we have to do it right now. It's got to happen, players' feelings aside. And the players are great. You can't hurt players' feelings right now because there's one thing and it's one goal. It's one team. They all get it. They understand.

So I just had to do what I thought was going to help us be the best version of ourselves to score some runs and win a baseball game.

Q. Just curious, you had one playoff game here so far. An incredible crowd to close out the Dodgers. Curious what your expectations are for today's atmosphere.

TOREY LOVULLO: I think it should be very close to the same. I don't know if it's a sell-out or not. I just know there's going to be a lot of D-back fans here, and we're very appreciative of them coming out and supporting us.

When you talk about the Dodgers coming in, they bring 10,000, 15,000 fans every single time we play them. So I've been hearing that there's going to be a lot of Philly fans. I can't imagine it's going to be more than the Dodgers fans. I'll be anxious to see what it looks like.

I know our group is going to be out there today and representing the best way they know how. It's a tough time, right? It's 2 o'clock during the week. Kids are in school. People are working. It's a little bit of a challenge, but I'm excited to think that we're going to have some fans out here and a lot of fan support.

Q. I think you said yesterday Gallen is a no-go on short rest. Is the same true of Merrill, and is there a scenario where either of them could give you an inning if you need it in relief?

TOREY LOVULLO: I would say as of right now everything is going to stay on turn, but once we get to their spots and hopefully beyond, anything will be possible.

I think if it came down to it and somebody had a pen day and they wanted to go out and help us win a baseball game in an inning, I would certainly be open to that conversation. But as of right now, we're going to stay right on turn with them for 5 and 6.

Q. With Brandon, what are the ways in which you have seen his repertoire evolve most notably since the first time you saw him pitch?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, it was a fastball-heavy attack. He could throw it anywhere he wanted, and I think the first time he came up, he got hit around a little bit. He was throwing the fastball where he wanted or maybe there was a half inch or an inch miss, and it was getting squared up.

We continue to work with him. We sent him down to get some work with his secondary stuff, maybe changing angles. I know Brent Strom moved him to the total other side of the rubber the last time that he went down, and he came back, and he has been really good ever since.

The way he has developed is the fastball is aggressive with good carry. He can go on both sides and top bar. He's now throwing the secondary stuff that we challenged him to throw. He's sequencing his pitches.

The consistent -- the common denominator was always the mound presence and the ability to compete. He never would back down from any challenge, and you couldn't tell whether he looked -- by looking at him whether he is having a good day or bad day, and I really like that.