Diamondbacks name Torey Lovullo new manager
Nov 4, 2016, 9:56 AM | Updated: 2:54 pm
Boston Red Sox interim manager Torey Lovullo heads back to the dugout after checking on Rusney Castillo who fouled a ball off of himself during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park in Boston Friday, Aug. 14, 2015.(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
Torey Lovullo has followed Mike Hazen from Beantown to the desert.
OFFICIAL: Torey Lovullo has been named #Dbacks manager.
Welcome to Arizona! pic.twitter.com/VHx63I8SAd
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) November 4, 2016
Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported Friday morning the team will name Lovullo, previously Boston’s bench coach, as Arizona’s new manager under Hazen and the revamped and restructured front office.
“I’m excited to have Torey as our manager,” Hazen said in a press release. “We share the same goals and mindset about how to be a championship-caliber organization.”
A press conference to introduce Lovullo is scheduled for Monday.
The 51-year-old spent 2012-16 with the Red Sox as manager John Farrell’s bench coach and in a stint was the interim manager as Farrell went on medical leave. Boston went 28-20 during Lovullo’s interim tenure.
“I appreciate the opportunity to join the D-backs family,” Lovullo said in a press release. “I’m excited to get to work with the staff and players to help lead this organization back to title contention. I also thank the Boston Red Sox for the invaluable opportunities provided to me over the last 4 years.”
Prior to his time with the Red Sox, Lovullo was first base coach on Farrell’s Toronto staff from 2011-12, and before that, he served in Boston’s organization with Triple-A Pawtucket.
Lovullo is the third previous member of the Red Sox to join the D-backs this offseason, following Hazen and assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye, who headed Boston’s scouting department.
Early in his career, Lovullo gained familiarity with Hazen with the Cleveland Indians, where he managed throughout the farm system from 2002-09. Hazen was an advanced scout for the Indians from 2001-02 and was promoted in 2003 to assistant director of professional scouting before becoming the assistant director of player development the next two seasons.
The Diamondbacks hired Lovullo, who had been linked to Hazen since his own hiring, over in-house managerial candidate Phil Nevin, the manager of Triple-A Reno.
As a player, Lovullo was selected in the fifth round of the 1987 draft. Primarily a second baseman, he played for the Tigers (1988-89), Yankees (1991), Angels (1993), Mariners (1994), A’s (1996), Indians (1998), and Phillies (1999).
