D-backs execs Derrick Hall, Mike Hazen stand behind manager Torey Lovullo

Undoubtedly, the Arizona Diamondbacks have hit a low point in their season.

Not only are they losers in seven of their last eight, the D-backs’ 10-1 loss to the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates came with floundering starting pitching, mistake-prone defense, a no-show offense and signs of the bottom falling out.

It’s come to wondering if manager Torey Lovullo could be on the hot seat with a 27-29 start to the season, considering the season started with expectations of challenging the Los Angeles Dodgers atop the NL West.

President and CEO Derrick Hall said there is definitely urgency with Arizona sitting four games out of the third spot in the division as of Thursday morning. But Lovullo’s job right now isn’t the first thing on his mind.

“I talk to (owner Ken Kendrick) every day. Believe it or not, his head is high,” Hall told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta. “He still believes in the team, he believes in the product. He thinks we’re going to turn this around.”

Arizona has gone from scuffling to thriving under Lovullo in past seasons.

In 2023, the D-backs were 50-34 on July 1 and by August 11 had fallen two games below .500 at 57-59. They rattled off wins to reach the postseason and hit the gas once there to make the World Series.

Hall mentioned that as a reason he’s optimistic a turnaround could happen.

“The players do care a lot about Torey,” Hall said Thursday after a 10-1 loss to the Pirates. “It looked like they just weren’t playing for their manager or coaches or the owner or me or the organization or Mike, sure. But I’d take it at a different angle and say maybe they’re trying too hard. That’s the other conversation we’ve had over and over.

“We had it last year at some point, they had it in 2023 at some point. At times, they grip. They try too hard to change things. Everybody puts the onus on their own back and tries to do it all themselves and hit a five-run homer and it makes it all worse.”

D-backs GM Mike Hazen shifts blame away from Torey Lovullo

General manager Mike Hazen took the blame away from Lovullo on Wednesday, after a 6-0 lead turned to a 9-6 defeat on Tuesday and before the Wednesday stinker.

Every manager takes criticism when the bullpen continually blows the game. And D-backs general manager Mike Hazen points out it's not just the bullpen.

Hazen joined @WolfandLuke on the Front Office Focus, brought to you by Canvas. pic.twitter.com/2ly3yJIhZN

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) May 28, 2025

The GM said it is his responsibility to find fixes for a bullpen that has the fourth-worst ERA (5.49) in baseball.

“Every manager that has bullpens that kick games gets blamed 1,000% every night we lose — it’s his fault,” Hazen told Wolf & Luke on Wednesday. “That’s just the way this game goes. It’s not the Diamondbacks. It’s every team in baseball because everybody can look out of the bullpen and be like, ‘Well, if you just didn’t put in that guy and you put in that guy, everything would have worked out different.’

“It’s not just him,” Hazen added. “He is ultimately responsible for it, but it is a group that is making decisions based on the information they have. We are aware of why they make those decisions. We’re part of some of that calculus and giving them information that they have available to them. And you trust that they’re making the right decisions, and I do believe he’s doing that. When the execution doesn’t happen, then it’s the easiest place to go is it was his decision that screwed it up. That is not what happens. The players bear a responsibility to execute in those situations.”

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