Playing Career: 1989-1999 (303 games played)
I am certain that by the end of this article, you are bound to learn something. Maybe right away because if you didn’t know, your favorite skipper used to play ball at the highest level…
In 8 major league seasons, Lovullo played 303 games, hit 15 home runs, had 60 RBIs, and averaged a career OPS of .636. I am sure he’d be the first to tell you that his numbers weren’t great, but hey, to even get to the big leagues is an accomplishment in itself. His best season came in 1996 with the Oakland A’s where he played 65 games and ended the season with a .701 OPS. Unfortunately, Lovullo was never a part of a world series run as a player...
Blue Jays First Base Coach: 2010-2012
After the 2010 season, the Blue Jays hired Lovullo to handle the 1B coaching duties. For Lovullo, it was his first job in the MLB since 1999…
Technically, Torey only spent two seasons with the Jays (2011 and 2012). In the 2011 season, the Blue Jays went 81-81, just missing the playoffs. That season, outfielder Jose Bautista posted an insane 1.056 OPS which was first in all of baseball. Bautista also got on base at a .447 clip meaning that he and Lovullo had many meetings at first base. The ball club regressed in the final and following season for Lovullo in Toronto. In 2012, the Blue Jays finished 73-89 with a rough road record of 32-49. That season Edwin Encarnacion was top 5 in HRs and RBIs. In the two seasons Lovullo was there, he got to witness two of the best sluggers in the history of baseball…
Red Sox Bench Coach: 2013-2016
Lovullo got to be a part of some very successful teams in Boston. In Torey’s first year (2013) with the Red Sox, the team went 97-65 in the regular season and had a deep post-season run that resulted in them defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. The first World Series Lovullo was ever in, he was rewarded with a ring (World Series Ring)...
The following season in 2014, the Red Sox fell off the face of the earth. A season removed from winning it all, the Red Sox finished with a heart-wrenching record of 71-91. Bad pitching and mediocre hitting plagued Boston that season, and it was a season they would quickly try to forget. Fast forward a year and the Red Sox improved a little. In 2015, the Red Sox finished the season 78-84. 7 more wins than the 2014 season but still not what Sox fans were hoping for. The final year for Lovullo in the Red Sox organization was a successful one much like the 2013 one. In 2016, the Red Sox finished 93-69, winning the AL East. Unfortunately, they lost to the Cleveland Indians in the AL Division Series, and that was the last they would see of Lovullo in Boston…
Diamondbacks Manager: 2017-Present
This brings us to the happy ending of the story; Torey Lovullo comes home to Arizona. On October 16, 2016, Mike Hazen was named the new GM of the Diamondbacks. Shortly after, Hazen named Lovullo the manager of the ball club. Going into the 2017 season Lovullo would now lead the team on the field…
In Torey’s first season with Arizona, the team finished the season with a 93-69 record and clinched a playoff spot. The team then won their one and only wildcard game against the Colorado Rockies. Unfortunately, the D-Backs lost in the next round of the playoffs (NLDS) to the LA Dodgers who would go on to the World Series but lose in 7 games to the Houston Astros. It was later discovered that the Houston Astros found unorthodox ways to cheat that season, so in my book, the Dodgers deserved that world series trophy…
Ever since the successful 2017 season, things haven’t been great in Arizona. 2017 marks the last time the D-Backs made the postseason; and from 2018-2022 the Diamondbacks have a combined record of 318-390. Not a great record by any means. Blame who you want, the front office, the lack of talent, manager Torey Lovullo himself, but the wins have not been coming over the past few years. With a revamped squad, mixed of young and old heading into 2023, let’s see if Lovullo and the boys can turn things around in sunny Arizona…