Case For Torey Lovullo’s Manager Of The Year Candidacy!
The candidates for MLB’s Managers of the Year were just announced, they include the usual suspects but one manager was glaringly omitted. Torey Lovullo, the National League Champions Arizona Diamondbacks manager, was not included this year much to the surprise of many Arizona fans and baseball fans in general. The other candidates included former Dback and current Cubs manager Craig Counsell, who received a nomination for his work with the Brewers. Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves and Skip Schumaker of the Miami Marlins joined Counsell.
The Playoffs
I would like to clarify that this award does not take into account the playoffs as the votes are cast before the end of the regular season. So whatever happened in the playoffs, including the World Series run, won’t be counted as a reason to vote for Torey. We are just two seasons removed from the worst season in Dbacks history where the team lost 110 games. Last year was a great season for the development of the young stars of this team, such as our Young King Alek Thomas. This year had different expectations according to projections, the team was projected to end the season 78-84 with only an 18% chance to make the playoffs. Yet, they started the season on a tear and were in command of first place for most of the first half before a cataclysmic collapse after the all-star break when they went on a 9 game losing streak. Fans were calling for Lovullo’s head during this time, but General Manager Mike Hazen stuck with his guy as he had during their 110-loss season.
Photo by AP Photo/Matt York
Trade Deadline
A few moves during the Trade Deadline seemed to moderately improve the team, adding stability to this bullpen. Eventually, the ship was righted and they made the PostSeason and went on to the World Series. Now you may ask, why does Lovullo deserve this award? Well, the days when the manager was the field general is long over, nowadays the front office dictates most of what happens during games. Such as pitching sequences and changes, as well as batting matchups. Depending on the organization some managers have more freedom, which is what Arizona seems to do as opposed to Tampa Bay. Torey helped this team full of young players be able to find their footing in the big leagues this year and find success, like our future Rookie Of The Year Corbin Carroll. He helped this team weather the storm during the dark days of the season when all hope seemed lost when they fell out 4 games from the last wild card spot. There are just things we can never measure when it comes to managing the way we can make numbers to decide league MVPs.
Torey’s A Players Manager
Throughout the years players have commented about their love and support of Lovullo, like former Dback Eduardo Escobar who claimed he would run through a brick wall for Torey, and I believe him. There’s more that goes into managing a baseball team than just putting out the best players in the league the way Brian Snitker did, you need to know when to reprimand and when to commend your guys to get the best you possibly can from them. The Dbacks exceeded expectations not despite but because of the leadership of Lovullo. He brought out the best in every single guy on the team. Before the season he claimed they would need to play perfect baseball against teams like LA and Atlanta for them to make the playoffs. Now, did they play perfectly? No, but they played well enough and connected enough to be able to pull a rabbit out of their hats to give the valley its first World Series appearance since 2001 with a team full of first and second-year players. I believe in Torey Lovullo.
3. Diamond Sports Group files for bankruptcy as MLB season nears – The Washington Post
