Early has become ugly. It’s nearly June, and the Diamondbacks are not a good team. They are far worse than a losing team.
They are a team that looks lost.
The lowly Pirates landed the most recent haymaker, scoring 19 unanswered runs over a swath of two games to win a shocking series at Chase Field. A series where the Diamondbacks went 13 innings without scoring a run. Red flags are everywhere.
The bullpen has demoralized the team. Shaky defense speaks of a snakebit group losing confidence and belief. Five times in 56 games, the Diamondbacks have endured traumatic sucker-punch losses that have confounded and exasperated the fan base, the kind of losses that might happen once or twice over an entire season.
Which brings us to the manager.
Torey Lovullo has had an amazing and resilient run in Arizona. He won 93 games and made the playoffs as a rookie manager. He lost 198 games over a two-year span and still kept his job. He rebounded with a great performance in the 2023 World Series run, where he emerged as the beating heart of the team and became a breakout star of the postseason. And he was at the wheel for the unseemly collapse in the final week of 2024.
After nine years at the helm, Lovullo’s managerial record is below .500. And the owner must wonder: Is it time for a new voice? Something different? Change for the sake of change?
I am a longtime defender of Lovullo. I believe he can be an easy target. I believe he is tougher than he acts and harder than he sounds during post-game press conferences. I hear that he rips into players when necessary and I’m aware most of his annoying lineup decisions come from above. He takes a lot of bullets for his players. These are crucial elements to understand when you’re calling for the manager’s job in Arizona.
There are also times when baseball teams require stern leaders and not therapists. And the Diamondbacks’ collective lack of focus, sharpness and overall intensity suggests a team that has tuned out the messenger, a team that feels way too comfortable in the clubhouse, a team that doesn’t properly fear its leader. Alas, even the most popular voices get stale in professional sports, and Lovullo has been here a long time.
I sincerely hope that’s not the case. Lovullo is just like Mike D’Antoni and Bruce Arians, head coaches whose personality and popularity have made the Valley a better place. I would also give Lovullo another month to make this right, to capitalize on a soft stretch of schedule ahead.
But the pitchfork mob is becoming an army. The Diamondbacks are underachieving and struggling to beat bad teams. They entered the season with robust financial commitment from owner Ken Kendrick, who splurged on three pricey starting pitchers, and heavy questions hover.
Expectations are different. So are the stakes. So are the consequences.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.
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