'He's always behind us': Lovullo wins 500th game as manager

DENVER -- There were moments back in the darkness of the 2021 season when Torey Lovullo wondered just how many more days he would be managing the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Back then, the D-backs were headed towards 110 losses, and it’s not often a manager can endure that number of defeats and still keep his job.

Yet, on Tuesday night, standing in the visiting manager’s office at Coors Field was Lovullo, his uniform reeking of the adult beverages dumped on him by his team, celebrating his 500th regular-season victory as a manager.

More important than the milestone for Lovullo was the fact that the 3-2 win over the Rockies snapped his team’s current five-game losing streak.

Merrill Kelly picked up the victory in his third start of the year, and as the team gathered around Lovullo in the clubhouse afterwards, Kelly shared some words about the only manager he has played for in the big leagues.

“It seemed right that Merrill got the win tonight,” Lovullo said. “He said some nice things that I’ll never forget and I just thanked the team. It was great, a great moment for me.”

Lovullo was hired by the D-backs prior to the 2017 season and led them to a win in the National League Wild Card Game that same year. There were competitive seasons in ‘18 and ‘19 before the D-backs began to struggle starting in ‘20, then bottomed out in ‘21 -- a campaign in which Lovullo knew he easily could have been let go.

Arizona general manager Mike Hazen, though, stood behind Lovullo with the support of managing general partner Ken Kendrick and team president/CEO Derrick Hall.

Otherwise, someone else likely would have been occupying that office Tuesday night.

“It means that I've had some incredible backing,” Lovullo said. “I've had some people that have really stood by me and good times and bad and I'm honored for that. I am so proud to be the Arizona Diamondbacks manager and I represent this entire state and I'm so proud of that.”

Kelly, who joined the D-backs in 2019, allowed just two runs over six innings, and while the performance, in his mind, wasn’t a thing of beauty, it got the job done. Once Arizona secured the win, Kelly was the one to present his manager with a game ball.

Lovullo’s biggest strength as a manager has always been his ability to build relationships and communicate with his players. It’s why they accept his messages, even the ones they might not want to hear.

“This is my sixth year,” Kelly said. “I've had him the whole time and it's been cool to see our relationship grow since 2019. You’re always going to have his ear. Anything you want to talk about, he's open to it, he'll discuss it with you. He'll never shy away from criticism. He’ll never shy away from suggestions on how we can handle things better or how we can get better as a team. He's always looking to get better.

“And one thing I really got to hand it to him no matter what's going on, even through the dark days of ’21, he's always behind us. He's always supporting us. He's never putting blame on anybody in this clubhouse. He's always taken the blame.”

Tuesday was Lovullo’s night to receive the praise, and first baseman Christian Walker, who contributed an RBI single, cited Lovullo’s ability to deal with the ups and downs of a Major League season.

The D-backs got off to a good start this year taking three of four from the Rockies before dropping two of three to the Yankees, all three of their games in Atlanta and the first one here in Colorado before finally getting back on the winning side of the ledger.

“Torey is so consistent,” Walker said. “The way he communicates, the way he navigates you know, the good, the bad, all of it in the season. It makes what we do a whole lot easier. So happy to be a part of it and happy for him."