Don’t skip the SKIPPER
Lovullo deserves share of blame for D-Backs’ fall
Torey Lovullo’s news conferences sometimes feel like counseling sessions, minus the $150 charge, cushy chairs and soft lighting.
He talks about the need to push frustration aside, live in the moment and enjoy today.
But he admits that’s not so easy when you manage the 2018 Diamondbacks, who have lost 13 of their last 18 and gone from first place in the NL West to six games out.
“Sports consume you,” Lovullo said, “and when you take our jobs as seriously as we do, it overruns you at times. So I try to not allow it to happen, but it’s almost impossible at this time of the year.”
Obituaries for this Diamondbacks season are in the process of being written.
Blame for failure to reach the playoffs a second consecutive year – something accomplished just once in franchise history – will be distributed throughout the roster.
A bullpen that disintegrated.
Starting pitching that was often unreliable.
Run production that blew in and out like the wind.
All that led to a maddeningly inconsistent team that went 20-8 in March/April, 8-19 in May, 19-9 in June, 27-25 in July and August, and, so far, 5-13 in September.
But Lovullo deserves a share of the blame, too.
A year ago, every move he made seemed to work, everything he touched turned golden. He was the National League Manager of the Year and deserved it.
At times this year, everything he touched seemed to turn brown and die. That was especially true over the last month or so.
His curious decisions are major points in the timeline of the Diamondbacks’ collapse.
In late August, he stubbornly stuck to his “process” and rested starting outfielders A.J. Pollock and David Peralta on the road against the Giants. The Diamondbacks were shut out in both games.
A few days later, Lovullo decided not to pinch hit for starter Zack Greinke in the eighth inning. A one-run lead turned into a 3-2 loss.
The next day, Lovullo went to reliever Archie Bradley, who gave up the goahead homer to Matt Kemp.
The day after that, Lovullo turned to Bradley again, and Kemp turned on Bradley again, hitting a two-run double to win the game.
By Sept. 13, the Diamondbacks were 3 1/2 games out of first and trailed Colorado 5-3 in the seventh inning in Denver. But Ketel Marte was on second with one out, and Peralta and Daniel Descalso were available to pinch hit.
Instead, Lovullo opted to avoid a lefty on lefty matchup and used Ildemaro Vargas and Socrates Brito as pinch hitters. They both struck out.
Peralta and Descalso never got off the bench. The Diamondbacks lost 10-3.
Maybe Peralta and Descalso wouldn’t have come through, but we’ll never know.
Living in the moment means limiting the amount of time spent second-guessing yourself, but that’s easier said than done, even for Lovullo.
“I don’t like to but I can’t help but think about some of the decisions I made,” Lovullo said when asked if he secondguesses himself often. “I probably went 10 to 12 days where every decision I made backed up on me and backed up on this team.”
It all came much easier in 2017. Lovullo asked starters to give him seven innings. They did.
He was patient with closer Fernando Rodney during struggles early in the season. Rodney came around. Every time Lovullo pushed a button, one of his players answered.
That hasn’t happened often this season, although Lovullo’s decision to start a Triple-A lineup Wednesday night paid off with a 9-0 victory over the Cubs.
Lovullo was patient with closer Brad Boxberger far longer than warranted before concluding Boxberger wasn’t coming around. He stuck with catcher Alex Avila even when Avila was striking out half the time.
And Lovullo sometimes failed to realize the moment the Diamondbacks were in could impact the rest of the season.
Lovullo constantly preached that one game was just one game, as he did after the two consecutive shutout losses against the Giants in last August.
Now six games back with nine to play, the Diamondbacks won’t win it today, tomorrow or any other time this season.
Some innings, some games and some series are pivotal. A manager has to sense that and make moves that win that inning, that game and that series. He can’t let the moment pass while worrying about what might happen two innings later.
The Diamondbacks failed in too many of those situations this season.