NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 22, 2023

Torey Lovullo

Citizens Bank Park

Arizona Diamondbacks

Workout Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Torey.

Q. Except for a few moments, the offense has generally struggled for the most part. Execution on both sides clearly a factor. Which do you attribute this to more? Execution by the Phillies pitchers or lack thereof from your hitters? Which is the biggest factor?

TOREY LOVULLO: First of all, I think there are several areas in a lot of the games that we've got to tighten up. And that's what we're talking about right now as we're working out here in Philly.

Specifically speaking about our offense, yes, I want to give credit where credit is due. The Philly pitchers, especially their one, two, and then back to their one, have been really, really effective against us.

It's a mixture of pitches. It's keeping us off balance. It's a good pitching plan, attacking zones that might be certain limitations for certain hitters. So that's A.

Then, B, I think -- and this is where I hold every one of us accountable -- I think we're just making some poor swing decisions. I think we're chasing certain counts. We're aware of pitches and certain counts. They're doing their math. And then we see the pitch, and it might be a ball or two off of where we're looking at it, and I think we have that mentality that we're just trying to do everything on every pitch.

We have to remember that in order to get a certain pitch that you want to square up, you have to maybe get into the count, get some count leverage, have seen the pitch, know where it's going to start, know where it's going to land, and then effectively determine where it's going to be so you can barrel it up.

I'm hoping that things click in the way that we've seen it over the first couple of series, but I want to put it on us. Because I feel like to get to where we're going and the things that we have to do to win series and climb that mountain, we've got to be able to beat every type of pitcher, no matter who they are and what type of stuff they have on that given day.

Q. I know you talked a lot throughout the year about your relationships with coaches and within baseball, outside of baseball. Just wonder going into this big moment in Philadelphia if any words of encouragement or insight or anything have stood out in any conversations you've had with any of those people?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah. You know, I think at this time of the year, most of the coaches are just wishing me luck and letting me know that they're generally pulling for me and this ball club.

What they're noticing is how we play the game, the things that we do that are right, and just the connected way in which we go about our business. Mostly from a culture standpoint. The Xs and Os, ins and the outs, I don't think they're watching close enough to determine what's going right on a daily basis.

But I will say the best interaction and the best conversation I had was probably with Joe Torre. We were here in Philadelphia for Games 1 and 2, and we laughed a little bit and reminisced and talked about the hardships of '20 and '21. The conversation that he and I had about how to work through those tough times.

And now that we've come out the other end and here we are playing on the eve of our first game of the NLCS, we talked about how good it is to kind of stay with who you are and what you believe in.

Those were great conversations then and even better conversations now, and he urged me to continue being myself, continue doing the things that I have done to get this team to play the way they have, because it's very noticeable every single day.

So it's a combination of everything. I think all the coaches that understand what a daily grind it is and where you are that aren't specifically telling me that, that they do notice that we're playing at a very high level. And then Joe Torre kind of solidified that for me, so it was a really nice moment for me to spend with Joe.

Q. If you could just sum up this playoff run to this point. You often talk about people and this run is about people that you've been around. What's it like for you, your family, you know, the guys on this team, this organization to get this far and to just be in this moment? Have you had a chance to just kind of look around and take it all in at all?

TOREY LOVULLO: I try to. I know when it's going to be the first week of November, I'll have a chance to really sit down and dissect it and appreciate it a little bit differently.

Every once in a while, I step up on the top step of the dugout, especially at Chase Field, and try to drink it up, drink up what's happening, and just appreciate where this team is and what we're fighting for every single day.

We're in the National League Championship Series. We're playing Game 6 tomorrow night. I couldn't be any more excited about where we are and the sacrifice and the commitment that we've made together with the front office, sacrifices that we've all made together with the players. And coming out the other end, it's a very gratifying feeling.

But we're not satisfied. We're not to that point yet where we said this is the end result. This is definitely not the end result. We've got more work to do. So that's why I can't give you the full answer. But, yeah, I spend time drinking it up when I need to because I don't want to take any part of what's going on for granted.

Because we've been as high as you can get right now, and I know a very short time ago we were in a very dark spot as well.

Q. Just curious if you guys were able to get out on the field today or do any hitting or did the guys show up at the ballpark? What was your schedule today?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, schedule was we landed, came straight here, geared up, went out, and started working out about an hour and 20 minutes ago.

So, yeah, all the pitchers came in, threw. We had bullpens that were thrown. Everybody got their work in. We got our defensive work in. They're winding up with the final group right now. Our workout will conclude at 8 o'clock.

I think perhaps the coolest part of the day was getting a police escort all the way from the airport to the field and having to pass by Philadelphia Eagle fans because they're playing right now or getting ready to play.

So, yeah, felt like we had that big man energy and we were going right through, cutting through it like butter. It was nice to get here, get back on the field, feel this cool air. It's very cold out there right now. It's not 105 as it was in Phoenix. So I was glad that we were able to get on the field and get some quality work in.

Q. Stolen bases has been such an integral part of your guys' success this season, and you've got just one this series. What do you attribute that to?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, I just think the Phillies have done a great job of creating awareness and understanding that -- or giving us the understanding that they're working hard to shut down the running game.

You know, their pitchers are consistently delivering quality pitches in that 1.3, 1.35 range. They're very unpredictable, and they're just doing a good job of paying attention to whoever it is at first base. Not just Corbin Carroll, who has the 80 speed, who has the 50-plus stolen bases. We'll steal bases on anybody at any time, but they've been doing a good job of getting the ball to home plate.

On top of that they've been doing a really good job of mixing up their looks and their timing. You've got to give credit where credit is due. We have to be as creative as possible to get that portion of our game going. Because it is such an important piece of our puzzle as we're connecting dots through the course of a game because it's a ton of energy. So we have to he get that figured out.

Q. I was going to say, when they're scheming successfully and when you've got guys getting to the plate as quickly as they are, how as a base runner can you combat that?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, without giving away any of our thoughts or secrets that we're talking about right now, you just have to be situationally aware of whatever a key is or whatever that timing is and just get the best jump possible.

What I feel like is, especially in power starting pitcher stuff, they need a chance to gather themselves, get loaded up. That takes a little bit of time for the delivery, especially with a lot of moving parts.

They may make a mistake at home plate, so we're taking that mindset. If they're hurrying and hustling in their delivery to get the ball to the plate or their catcher to control the running game that that is some noise that we feel like we should be able to take advantage of.

Unfortunately, up to this point, we have not, so we have to be better at home plate when there's some quality runners at first base that are causing this pitcher to get the ball to home plate a little bit quicker.

Q. Does it give you guys some extra confidence kind of considering all the situations you guys have been in this year?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, yeah, I think we're a battle-tested team, and you can tell this team is full of grit. We don't back down on anybody. We're going to go out there and fight you. No matter what we have in our deck or in our hand at that moment, we're going to give it all we have, and we're going to fight you.

I don't want to sound like it's sour grapes, right, but we haven't played our best baseball through the course of this series. It could happen at any time, and when it does, we can get hot and compete with anybody at any time. So we've had some good innings. We've had some good moments, but I don't think we've pieced together a full nine inning game where I could say I'm very satisfied.

So that's our goal right now. This team is hungry. They're ready. I want to make sure that tomorrow night we're going to go out there and do our job to the best of our ability and the highest level possible.

Q. What have you been seeing from Christian at the plate in this series, and do you think a couple of hard-hit balls last game is sort of a turning of the corner?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, I would like to believe so. I know that he's barrelled up a couple of balls. I think there was a double down the left field line yesterday.

So I always believe that our hitters, our quality hitters are one pitch away from getting that rhythm and getting the feel back and creating some barrel awareness and getting the job done.

A little bit of what I talked about earlier, I do want to give credit where credit is due. I think we have to be a little bit smarter and better overall as an offense. Christian is getting pitched to a little bit at that top bar, top of the zone. He just has to lower his sights a little bit and look for the pitch in the area that he can handle or drive out of the ballpark.

He is just a quality hitter, and I know he feels like he can hit any pitch out of the ballpark at any time. But I think he is just fighting too many pitches throughout the whole zone. He just has to shrink it up a little bit, and he'll be just fine.

Q. I know Gabi stayed in the game after the collision in the first inning. Is he feeling any effects of it now, or is he ready to go for tomorrow?

TOREY LOVULLO: He's ready to go. He's been examined by our team physician yesterday, and he's continuing to be looked at today.

He's obviously here because the bus came straight here, and there is no monitoring. There's just an update as to how he is feeling. He has not entered the concussion protocol and should be in the lineup tomorrow.

Q. Can you just speak to his toughness and kind of what that has meant to the team? I mean, he has been hit three, four times, it seems like, and gets back up every time. I know he brushes you aside to stay in the game. Just what does that do to the rest of the guys?

TOREY LOVULLO: I love the fact that he's playing a very rugged position at a high level, and then can take a jolt or two. It's not just what happened yesterday. It was also a foul ball that got hit off of the bottom bar of his face mask that got him yesterday as well in about the seventh or eighth inning. He is a tough kid. He is just a tough kid and just plays a very rugged position and accepts that responsibility.

The Harper slide, there was nothing malicious about it. It's just two players converging on the same part of home plate, and he caught a shoulder. You know, you hated to see it, but he is laying down on the field there, gets up, rolls over, and he says he feels fine, and he wants to stay in the game.

It's been very consistent with every time that something like that has happened, and we're just thankful that he is okay. But, yeah, we love his toughness. I think it's a huge piece of who he is.

Q. Merrill spoke just a little bit about the familiarity aspect. You know, having gotten out on the mound there, getting his sight lines, you know, getting used to the crowd. I'm just wondering if the rest of the guys may be a little bit more prone to make a quicker adjustment to the environment that you will be playing in tomorrow night?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, it's a real thing. It's a real environment. This crowd is very loud. Their top end is about what we heard at Chase over the past couple of days, but they're intense for nine innings.

There's a certain buzz that they maintain, a certain level that they maintain from pitch to pitch. So this crowd is something that we got used to over the two days that we were here. And whether it's loud for us or loud for them, we both have to hear it. We both have to deal with it. We just might have a chorus of boos over the cheers, but I think our guys are conditioned for that.

But I know this team is excited to be back here in Philly. There was obviously a chance after losing the first two that we wouldn't be making this trip back across the country. So, first of all, getting this workout in, getting sight lines here, getting reacquainted with everything was important. That's why we're working out.

Then it's just gear up tomorrow and go get it. It's Game 6, and we've got to win Game 6 because there's nothing behind that.

I'm not going to worry about Game 7, but I will say this. Game 7s are Game 7s for a reason, and anything can happen. But we have to get there. We're going to do our absolute best tomorrow to get through and play our type of baseball game and hopefully come out on the right end.