This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert’s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

In some ways, the postseason has already begun when it comes to the way D-backs manager Torey Lovullo is handling his pitching staff.

Arizona’s top two starters, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, still get the same treatment, but Lovullo has shortened the outings of the rest of the rotation, including Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt and Zach Davies.

Essentially, Lovullo lets those three face the batting order twice and possibly start facing them a third time. But at any sign of trouble, the manager goes right to the bullpen.

The D-backs even went with an opener against the Cubs in Wrigley to try to get Pfaadt some more favorable matchups.

If you think it looks a lot like how teams manipulate a pitching staff during the playoffs, well, you’re correct.

“I’m doing things with our starting pitchers that I haven't done ever,” Lovullo said. “I'm clipping guys at 65-75 pitches, and I just feel like there's a script in my head that I'm comfortable with. And I want their best effort, but I think it's just a little bit different. It doesn't mean I don't believe in people, it just means that I've got a script that's going in a different direction sometimes.”

The quick hook is something Lovullo last used in the 2017 NL Wild Card Game when he used starter Robbie Ray in relief while trying to secure a win against the Rockies.

Using openers and not letting starting pitchers face the order a third time are strategies that have become more prevalent throughout baseball. It has not gone unnoticed by Lovullo.

“I pay attention, I learn and I'm going to continue to try and move the ball forward making the best decisions possible,” Lovullo said. “My biggest fear as a manager is that I get stuck in like 1997 or 2005 so I gotta figure out how to move myself forward and learn about the game. I pay attention to a lot of things and sometimes too much, but I watch and I see a lot of decisions other managers make this time of year, for sure.”