MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 4, 2023

Torey Lovullo

Arizona Diamondbacks

Press Conference

Q. How are the Christmas lights?

TOREY LOVULLO: Right now they're still in the garage. I haven't pulled them out yet, believe it or not. Yeah. I've been between Buffalo and Arizona quite a bit this offseason, and I think we'll probably spend more time in Buffalo. I'll send you a picture of what I do in Buffalo. I haven't yet figured out what I'm doing.

I just went to Home Depot and spent a lot of money on Christmas lights, and those are in the garage too, so I haven't quite got it.

The extra month of baseball has thrown off my schedule. It's absolutely thrown off my Christmas juju, so I'll figure this out here.

Q. When did your heart rate go down after the World Series? When did it kind of all settle?

TOREY LOVULLO: It was probably about a week after. It took me a little while to just kind of come to grips with what happened, what we had walked through, and I started to process things more or less the right way.

Obviously disappointed by the outcome and coming as close as we did. And playing in the World Series was a great moment for this organization. I started to think about it the right way. I was really disappointed by how it turned out, and I felt like we got close and didn't close the deal. Once I cycled through that thought more into the area of it was a spectacular year and I'm really proud of the players and what we accomplished, things started to slow down for me.

I don't know. Will it ever really truly slow down? You know what my next thought was? Where do I need to go? What do I need to do to improve? Where do we need to go to make this thing happen the right way?

I don't know. I'll probably find some time over the next couple of weeks after this event here to just think about it the right way.

Q. Have you watched any of the games from October back at all?

TOREY LOVULLO: I haven't watched one pitch. I haven't watched. I saw it pop up on some of the replays, but I haven't watched. I'd get on it, watch a commercial, and then turn the channel, so I didn't watch one thing. I don't think I will, to be honest with you. I don't have any desire to right now.

Q. Why?

TOREY LOVULLO: Probably because it wasn't the final destination. You know, maybe if it was and we had won, I might look at it a little bit differently. I don't have a desire to because it seems like that whole entire week-plus, however long it was, didn't go anywhere close to what we -- anywhere close to the original script we had planned. So I don't have a desire to.

Q. Have you not watched any of the NLDS or NLCS games back?

TOREY LOVULLO: I haven't watched one game, one pitch of that as well either. I don't know why. I don't have any desire to. I might. I might change, but for right now I have not.

Q. Do you normally watch games back?

TOREY LOVULLO: Do I ever?

Q. Yeah.

TOREY LOVULLO: Very rarely. Very, very rarely. If something happens where I want to get a good look at it, I might have somebody send me a clip of it, somebody from the PR department, a clip of it. If I need to review something and look at something that happened, well afterwards, they'll do that. Right after the game I'll probably watch three or four clips about what happened so I can get briefed on what some of the questions might be from our local media.

But, no, I don't watch a lot of it. Probably moving forward and thinking about the next level of what needs to happen to get better.

Q. To that end, I know you're still in the early stages of processing and figuring it out, but what's your biggest take-away for what you can carry forward from that experience, both getting to the postseason and making the run you did for next year?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, I think the common thought that I keep having is that I'm so proud of the players for what they've done and the trust that they put in one another and the coaches and the training that they were getting.

We're a really good baseball team. We're a really good baseball organization. Because I watch young players step into a really big stage and be unfazed by it. That probably goes back to training and process over outcome. That's really what we're about.

I don't think we're so concerned about what's around -- what I've talked to these guys about all the time is you can't lose a game if you give your best effort and if you focus at the right times. I think we lived in that space, and I'm really proud of that. I go back to that often.

Q. You guys seemed to be at your best when you were maybe doing the hunting, right, rather than having (indiscernible). That's going to change probably next year. How do you feel when you approach that knowing that teams are going to be locking in on you?

TOREY LOVULLO: Well, first of all, that's unavoidable, and I want us to embrace that. I get introduced at different things or different events, and it's the National League Champion Arizona Diamondbacks. That sounds great. It sounds great, but you're right. There's now an X on our back.

I've already been talking about it, to embrace it. I understand that we're deserving of that tag, and we're deserving of being the chased.

The first half of last year we were the chaser, and I think it worked out really well. And all of a sudden, post All-Star break we might have got a little glossy-eyed and had the target on our back, and we all know what happened. It was 5-22, whatever the record was, and we put ourselves in a really tough spot.

So we have to learn to embrace that, accept what we are, and we deserve it. If we can come to grips with that, I think we're going to get back to focusing on what we do every single day. And that's pretty much the way we've been rehearsing it and scripting it out over the past couple of years.

Q. Two years ago Nick Saban complained about playing in the college football championship saying that it cut into his recruiting. As an organization, an extra month of playing, how did that cut into your guys' offseason -- the beginning of your offseason and your preparation, you and Mike (indiscernible).

TOREY LOVULLO: Two things. From a personal standpoint, you know, I was asked me about my Christmas lights. It feels like it still should be Thanksgiving coming up. My clock is a mess because of when the baseball season ended.

I know the players are the same way. We've been on Zoom calls with them for the past several days. It ended last week, and we had a very particular agenda of what we wanted to get accomplished through those meetings. And it is about what are you going to do to rest, recover, and then also get ready?

So we've earned that right to say that things are just a little bit out of whack, but we have to have a process and a plan to keep moving that thing forward so we know what to do to get ready for a very healthy 2024.

That's our design. We're going to work on messaging right now, about not taking anything for granted, not thinking it's going to happen automatically, and going out and being the best version of ourselves. So these players are starting to hear that right now.

I want them to continue to hear that because, A, they should enjoy where they've been, but it's not their final destination. We've got to find a way to get to that final destination. If we do, how are we going to reload and continue to evolve? That's how this game is.

Getting your clock adjusted has been a challenge. Conversations with Mike have been a little bit more on fast-forward. We're getting to things really quickly.

My phone calls with Mike -- you guys would be amazed. My oldest son always gets blown away at how fast we transition from being in the middle of the conversation to having the conversation end. It's like (descriptive sound). All right, dude, bye. That fast. That's what we have been doing for the past three weeks.

It's been very quick, fast-moving, and probably two or three times a day where we have 15 seconds of a conversation, goodbye because he is extremely busy, and I know that.

Q. How do you think Barry Enright will be as a full-time pitching coach, and how much of a loss was that for you guys?

TOREY LOVULLO: It's going to leave a little hole in our system. First of all, he is going to be an unbelievable pitching coach. I think he's learned from the best in Brent Strom, and he's going to fit right in there. I know Ron Washington, having had him as one of my coaches, he's a people person, a great personality. I think Barry is going to fit in wonderfully with him, and he's ready for this opportunity.

What we do to replace him, we're still currently discussing. But we had a hybrid coach situation, and he spent 75% of his time in the Minor Leagues and was delivering important messages for younger pitchers to develop and come to the Big Leagues and transition into that competitive atmosphere.

So we've got to find somebody else that's going to do it and do it as well as Barry did. We're going to miss Barry.

Q. Do you feel like getting how close you guys got to winning everything, is there a little bit more urgency for you in trying to get Mike to maybe kind of push the chips in a little bit more to try to come back next year and maybe win the whole thing?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah. I think -- I know Mike so well. The harder I push at something, the less inclined he's going to be to doing it. He goes the exact opposite of what I ask for.

We're all motivated by the same thing every single day. I know that for a fact. I can tell by the way I've been sitting in the war room and listening to these conversations, the intensity in which they're being had.

I know that those are no different than sitting in my office and me being a fly on the wall. They're always the same. I know that they're always the same every single day, and that's how can we win tomorrow? What's going to make us better tomorrow?

I don't think we have an all-in mentality out of panic. We have an all-in mentality out of necessity. That's who we are every single day. It never changes. We're not on anybody's time clock. We know player A, B, or C will be with us for this long. I don't think that's part of the equation or part of the calculus. We do it every single day the same way. Let's make us better tomorrow.

Q. When you were saying you were just doing Zoom calls, was that with the players?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah.

Q. Was that the equivalent of the exit interviews?

TOREY LOVULLO: Correct. Correct. Traditionally we have the one-on-ones coming in and going out. Mike and I made a conscious decision late in the season that we weren't going to have any conversations until our season was officially over because sometimes it signifies the end; right? The end is near. We never felt that way, nor do we want the players to ever feel that way.

We said let's push it all to Zoom. When I said goodbye to the team, I told them I would be in touch with them very soon regarding the Zoom interaction being used as their one-on-one exit meeting.

They all went great. The meetings were unbelievable, unbelievable.

Q. What specifically with Jay McCarthy do you have in mind for him this winter? What would you like to see him showing up looking like?

TOREY LOVULLO: Let's see. I know what was said in the Zoom -- and I don't want to share everything, but maybe getting a little bit more finish, a little bit more behind his swing offensively, be more impactful.

I think he is very dynamic and has the ability to go straight bat-to-ball when he needs to, but in those counts where he can get behind a ball and drive it out of the ballpark, we want that to be the case. We saw that several times in 2022. He hit third for us the majority of the second half of the season.

We know it's in there. There are some swinging issues, some timing issues, and we want him to be dynamic. We want him to change his compass and be able to go back and forth approach-wise as to what he wants to do based on what the pitcher is giving him and how he feels.

To continue to be a threat on the bases, impactful when he is out on the field and on the bases, and then defensively to continue getting better as a right-fielder with reads and breaks.

Mostly it was centered around the offensive aspect. The conversation we just had with him was centered around the offensive aspect, but to also gain a little bit more confidence too. You get sent down to the Minors, you wonder what is happening and where you're at. To rebuild where he was a couple of years ago because he was a very confident, confident, comfortable baseball player.

Q. What are you hearing about Eugenio Suarez? I don't know if you know him or if you have talked to him much as far as clubhouse fit. We all see how he is as player, but we hear excellent things about him as an individual.

TOREY LOVULLO: I forget how Mike Ferring referred to him today. Did you hear any of his SiriusXM stuff today when he talked about Suarez?

Q. Good vibes only.

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, like Captain Good Vibes. Is that what he's known as. He's very close to that.

Q. He was saying that he has good vibes only.

TOREY LOVULLO: On top of being a very good baseball player, somebody that has worked hard defensively to continue improving, the offensive approach has always been built around slug and driving the baseball. The game speaks for itself.

But we've heard -- we vet things. We have a wonderful culture. We want to make sure the person coming into our setting is going to fit in as a human being, as a teammate. We've heard nothing but glowing remarks about his ability to relate to players and connect with players and accept coaching and hold people accountable.

Accountability is a big word in our culture. We've heard nothing but great things about it him.

Q. The NBA added an in-season tournament this year. I'm curious what you think about MLB adding an in-season tournament?

TOREY LOVULLO: You know what, the only reason why -- this is the broom closet I've been living in for the past couple of months because of the baseball season. I had no idea what was going on until the Celtics and Billy Donovan -- I don't even know who -- got into a little bit of an argument during the game, and they're talking about the point differential. I'm, like, what?

I'm not even very well read on what's going on with the in-season tournament. I'm a baseball traditionalist when it comes to the long run and the long haul. I'm a big fan of how it's currently being run right now.

Q. An in-season tournament doesn't necessarily change the regular season schedule. It just makes certain games count towards an in-season tournament. Would you be opposed to select games on the schedule having a little bit more importance even though they're still just part of the normal 162 you play?

TOREY LOVULLO: The in-season tournament you're talking about is certain games would signify if you get into the in-season tournament, and you can win the in-season tournament, but it doesn't have anything to do with the end of the season standings?

Q. Right. Right. It's totally separate.

TOREY LOVULLO: Champions League type of thing?

Q. During the season certain games count towards it, and if you win a certain number of those games, then you can advance to actually be a part of the tournament and then that part would be separate from the rest of the season.

TOREY LOVULLO: It sounds interesting. I think every game is important. Every game should be weighted the same way. You have to win today to get through the day and get a little closer to tomorrow.

I don't know. I haven't given it much thought. I'm probably more in favor of what happened now. Look, we were the last -- what's happened currently. We're the last team in with 84 wins. It worked out really well for us.

Q. There were a lot of -- you pushed a lot of the right buttons in the playoffs. I'm curious if there's any time in your career that you can think of where you went against maybe the grain or just a moment that really worked out that you can kind of think of or that comes to mind, in-game?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, oh, man. There was a few things there that changed. I went against some of the recommendations from the coaches. Just trusted my gut. I know Saalfrank ended getting a huge out with Willy Adames as a hitter with the bases loaded and two outs in Milwaukee, right, and hit a line drive ground ball.

Was it Adames? Saalfrank against Adames? Got the third out in the seventy or the eighth.

Everybody targeted that as being the key at-bat. I thought, well, we're not going to get there because he is going to get the guy out before him, and he didn't, and we walked ourselves into a tough situation. I trusted Saalfrank against righties. I had all year long.

There were a few things that I went against script-wise and trusted what was being told to me by the staff, what I was sensing internally. I said it to Nick because Nick asked me the same thing. He wanted me to talk about me being the baseball genius and pushing all the right buttons, and I'll never do that; right? Maybe one-on-one I can talk about me.

I follow the same process every single day. Every single day. I want to make sure that you guys understand and the fans that watch understand I am a process-oriented guy which includes my gut and my feel for the game as to what is going on right in front of me.

Nobody is ever telling me who to put in. There's no script in front of me. It's just me and only me, and I have a bunch of information that includes some numbers. I have a bunch of information that includes my gut and my mind and a bunch of information from conversations that I've been having two or three innings in advance prior to that situation coming up that helps me make the best decision moving forward.

So I do it the same way all the time. It just showed up a little bit differently, and maybe seemed like I was pushing the right buttons, but it's the same way every single time.

Q. When you look at player development and integrating young talent in the Major League level, what do you view as your role as manager in that and not only, like, the playing time element but helping guys continue to develop and what do you feel like are some keys in that area?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah, first of all, player development is the backbone of our organization. Without them, we do not have the type of year we have this year.

I know for the guys that have been with me and girls that have been with me for the majority of the year, they've heard me say a couple of things, and I'm going to repeat. I apologize, but it's real.

When you are an Arizona Diamondback, you're not a Sunday helper when you get called up or a day game/night game helper. You come into our clubhouse with the expectation of being able to perform at a very high level at the most critical moment to help us win a baseball game.

We talk about one game making a difference, and I told you guys, I said, look, one game is going to make a difference this year. You just don't know where that one game is going to show up. It should give you great incentive as a player in player development for the Arizona Diamondbacks to go out there and learn and trust and grow every single day.

I had a lot of meetings with Josh Barfield who has now moved on to be the assistant general manager with the White Sox, and I plan on having a lot of discussions with Shaun Larkin, our new farm director, about the messaging.

It's crucial. It's got to overlap. It's got to be consistent. There are no barriers. That's how I was raised in the Cleveland Indians system when I was in player development, and it felt like it incentivized me to go out every single day to work my butt off to make a young player get better because I knew he was going to do the same thing at the next level.

Without barriers, they step into the same environment. They hear the same words from the same glossary, and we expect the same results, and it's very powerful.

Q. The game has shifted a little bit about maximizing pitching. I'm not talking about you, but the game, smaller pitch count. You also still value an innings eater, just somebody who is giving you innings. How do you balance those two things, and has that balance changed for you in the time (indiscernible)?

TOREY LOVULLO: Yeah. When I first got to the Big Leagues as a manager, I expected every starting pitcher to go and give us 21 outs, pitch into the seventh inning. It worked. It worked with Zack Greinke and Patrick Corbin. I can't remember some of the other names. But they were really good starting pitching.

I think you have to manage the type of team that you have, understand who they are, and what's going to put them in the most successful state of mind and most successful state to have success fundamentally. I do count on guys to go out there and give us length, but there's a balancing act every single day.

You can't ask your starting pitcher to go four or five innings every single day or you're going to wear out your bullpen. I feel like there's going to have to be a group of guys that will give us X amount of innings every year. 180 to 190 as a total.

Now, I'm telling you this on the heels of what I did to Brandon Pfaadt. I understand what I did to Brandon Pfaadt. I had great knowledge. I had great information through conversations. A lot of the things that I said earlier when he gets around that third time, the expected OPS and the actual OPS matched. It was right around 1,000. I wasn't going to put him in a situation to have limited success.

So I will manage the game the way I see fit to help us win, but I can't possibly ask Brandon Pfaadt to give us four or five innings every single time. It just will not work for him, nor will it work for our bullpen. We'll get our guys stretched out, and I'm going to react accordingly based on what they're giving me to help us win a game.

Q. With this shorter offseason and all the changes that have happened this offseason versus what you have experienced before, what was the biggest surprise?

TOREY LOVULLO: This offseason?

Q. Yeah. On things that were different.

TOREY LOVULLO: Let's see. I don't know. What are some things that you're thinking about?

Q. You said the offseason and the timing is different.

TOREY LOVULLO: Oh, yeah.

Q. What was the biggest surprise?

TOREY LOVULLO: Probably managing my time, my own personal time, and the overall timing and rhythm of what month we're in.

I feel like we're in November right now, for whatever reason it is, but it's not. We're in December, and the calendar is going to turn in 20-plus days, and it always seems like when that calendar turns into the new year, you're downhill to Spring Training.

I would say it's a balance between me getting used to what month we're in and then me just being able to balance my own personal time. The demand on my time has been very heavy. Deservedly so. I signed up for it. I'm not complaining about it. I just have to be a little bit better to get some personal time for myself.

Q. You had Atsuya Furuta in camp this year. You want him back. What did he bring, and are there any other of your former teammates you have a wish list you would like to bring in too?

TOREY LOVULLO: Not quite like Furuta. He came back. It was a great story for me personally, and then we reconnected, and I saw him again at the World Series. He vowed to come out if we made it to the World Series. He held up his end of the bargain. He came out there to support us.

I got a chance to see him for a couple of days, and then I want to try and bring him back for Spring Training because I just like having him around. I like his insight, his wisdom, and his ability to just connect some dots and see things that we might not see right there on the baseball field when we're working through Spring Training.

It's a tough chore for him. I know he has a lot of responsibilities while he's in Japan. But when he said stepped away last time -- last Spring Training for two weeks, I was very grateful for that. He talked to me about a lot of different things. He was able to expand my thought process about starting pitching and what an out-pitch truly looks like. Those are a couple of specific things that we talked about.

I just appreciate his baseball wisdom. He was 30 years ahead of everybody else. He was a walking computer, and the day I re-met him again at Spring Training, I could see that hadn't changed.

Thanks, you guys.